Autistic traits, autism spectrum conditions, and foetal testosterone

自闭症谱系障碍（ASC）对男性的影响远远超过女性。这可能反映了激素，遗传学，诊断实践或所有三个因素的影响。这项计划拨款通过跟踪母亲接受羊水穿刺术的儿童以及测量羊水睾酮水平来测试其中的第一种。它测试了一个小型的英国生物银行（与500名儿童有关）和一个更大的丹麦生物银行（与90，000名儿童有关），如果胎儿睾丸激素水平在后来表现出更多自闭症特征的儿童中升高，或者继续接受自闭症或自闭症的诊断。此外，由于睾丸穿刺样本可能不代表一般人群，我们测试胎儿睾丸激素是否与出生时收集的血斑和3个月时唾液中测量的新生儿睾丸激素水平相关，因为最终这种测试侵入性较小，风险较小，并且可以从每个婴儿身上进行。我们还测量了后来被诊断为自闭症的儿童的新生儿睾丸激素水平。最后，我们测试了一种罕见的医疗条件（AIS），其中男性不能结合胎儿睾丸激素，以测试预测，这样的男性应该比典型的男性有更少的自闭症特征。计划中的一系列研究将有助于回答胎儿睾丸激素是否会增加自闭症特征和ASC的风险的问题。

Autism spectrum conditions (ASC) affect males far more often than females. This is likely to reflect the influence of hormones, genetics, diagnostic practice, or all three factors. This program grant tests the first of these by following up children whose mothers had amniocentesis, and where the amniotic fluid tesosterone levels are measured. It tests in both a small British Biobank (linked to 500 children) and in the much larger Danish Biobank (linked to 90,000 children) if foetal testosterone levels are elevated in children who later show more autistic traits, or who go on to receive a diagnosis of autism or Asperger Syndrome. In addition, since amniocentesis samples may not be representative of the general population, we test if foetal testosterone is correlated with newborn testosterone levels measured in blood spots collected at birth, and in saliva at 3 months, since ultimately such tests are less invasive, have less risk, and could be taken from every baby. We also measure neonatal testosterone levels in children later diagnosed with autism. Finally, we test a rare medical condition (AIS) in which males cannot bind foetal testosterone, to test the prediction that such males should have fewer autistic traits than typical males. The range of planned studies will help answer the question as to whether foetal testosterone increases the risk of autistic traits and ASC.