| Autor: |
Fowler SP; Department of Medicine, Joe R. & Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA., Gimeno Ruiz de Porras D; Southwest Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences, School of Public Health in San Antonio, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 7411 John Smith Drive, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA.; Center for Research in Occupational Health, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08003 Barcelona, Spain.; CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health, 28029 Madrid, Spain., Swartz MD; Department of Biostatistics and Data Science, School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 1200 Pressler Street, Houston, TX 77030, USA., Stigler Granados P; Divisions of Environmental Health and Global Health, School of Public Health, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA 92182, USA., Heilbrun LP; Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics, and Environmental Sciences, School of Public Health in San Antonio, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 7411 John Smith Drive, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA., Palmer RF; Department of Family Practice and Community Medicine, Joe R. & Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA. |
| Abstrakt: |
Since its introduction, aspartame-the leading sweetener in U.S. diet sodas (DS)-has been reported to cause neurological problems in some users. In prospective studies, the offspring of mothers who consumed diet sodas/beverages (DSB) daily during pregnancy experienced increased health problems. We hypothesized that gestational/early-life exposure to ≥1 DS/day (DS early ) or equivalent aspartame (ASP early : ≥177 mg/day) increases autism risk. The case-control Autism Tooth Fairy Study obtained retrospective dietary recalls for DSB and aspartame consumption during pregnancy/breastfeeding from the mothers of 235 offspring with autism spectrum disorder (ASD: cases) and 121 neurotypically developing offspring (controls). The exposure odds ratios (ORs) for DS early and ASP early were computed for autism, ASD, and the non-regressive conditions of each. Among males, the DS early odds were tripled for autism (OR = 3.1; 95% CI: 1.02, 9.7) and non-regressive autism (OR = 3.5; 95% CI: 1.1, 11.1); the ASP early odds were even higher: OR = 3.4 (95% CI: 1.1, 10.4) and 3.7 (95% CI: 1.2, 11.8), respectively ( p < 0.05 for each). The ORs for non-regressive ASD in males were almost tripled but were not statistically significant: DS early OR = 2.7 (95% CI: 0.9, 8.4); ASP early OR = 2.9 (95% CI: 0.9, 8.8). No statistically significant associations were found in females. Our findings contribute to the growing literature raising concerns about potential offspring harm from maternal DSB/aspartame intake in pregnancy. |
