Maternal Chemical and Drug Intolerances: Potential Risk Factors for Autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder most commonly found in childhood with its core symptoms manifesting as inattention, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity. As ADHD generates a substantial rate of burden to the society in terms of economic and medical resources used, priority is given to explore the risk factors that contributes towards the multifactorial origin of this disorder to offer possible preventive and therapeutic interventions. With heritability accounting for 75% to 80% of the variability seen in ADHD, the remaining are explained through environmental risk factors that are exposed during critical period of pre-, peri-, and postnatal development. Though literature on the risk factors have been mostly controversial, certain associations have been made with regards to ADHD pathophysiology.

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Polygenic risk score, psychosocial environment and the risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Translational Psychiatry ◽

10.1038/s41398-020-01019-6 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Søren D. Østergaard ◽

Betina B. Trabjerg ◽

Thomas D. Als ◽

Clara Albiñana Climent ◽

Florian Privé ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ◽

Risk Score ◽

Attention Deficit ◽

Polygenic Risk Score ◽

Environment Impact ◽

Psychosocial Environment ◽

Polygenic Risk ◽

Hyperactivity Disorder ◽

Main Effects

Abstract The objective of the present study was to investigate whether the polygenic liability for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and the psychosocial environment impact the risk of ADHD in interaction or independently of each other. We conducted a register- and biobank-based cohort study of 13,725 individuals with ADHD and 20,147 randomly drawn population-based controls. These 33,872 cohort members were genotyped on the Infinium PsychChip v1.0 array (Illumina). Subsequently, we calculated the polygenic risk score (PRS) for ADHD and extracted register data regarding the following risk factors pertaining to the psychosocial environment for each cohort member at the time of birth: maternal/paternal history of mental disorders, maternal/paternal education, maternal/paternal work status, and maternal/paternal income. We used logistic regression analyses to assess the main effects of the PRS for ADHD and the psychosocial environment on the risk of ADHD. Subsequently, we evaluated whether the effect of the PRS and the psychosocial environment act independently or in interaction upon the risk of ADHD. We found that ADHD was strongly associated with the PRS (odds ratio: 6.03, 95%CI: 4.74–7.70 for highest vs. lowest 2% liability). All risk factors pertaining to the psychosocial environment were associated with an increased risk of ADHD. These associations were only slightly attenuated after mutual adjustments. We found no statistically significant interaction between the polygenic liability and the psychosocial environment upon the risk of ADHD. In conclusion, we found main effects of both polygenic liability and risk factors pertaining to the psychosocial environment on the risk of ADHD—in the expected direction.

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Risk factors influencing severity of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in a sample of preparatory school students in Cairo

Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry ◽

10.1177/1359104518755218 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 23 (4) ◽

pp. 542-555 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Hisham Ramy ◽

Mona El Sheikh ◽

Marwa Sultan ◽

Rasha Bassim ◽

Maissa Eid ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ◽

Behavioral Problems ◽

Attention Deficit ◽

Female Gender ◽

Intellectual Ability ◽

Self Report ◽

Short Version ◽

School Students ◽

Hyperactivity Disorder

Background: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common childhood psychiatric disorders. Severity of symptoms is associated with more behavioral problems, poor academic performance, and persistence of symptoms into adulthood. Methods: To examine the clinical and social correlates that may be identified as risk factors associated with ADHD severity in a sample of adolescent ADHD school students. A total of 925 students were recruited from two public and two private schools from eastern Cairo. They were interviewed using Conners-Wells Adolescent Self-Report—short version (CASS-S); students scoring more than 65 were further interviewed with Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia—present and lifetime version (K-SADS-PL) to confirm the diagnosis, then Conners-Wells Adolescent Self-Report—long version (CASS-L) to assess severity and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) to ascertain intellectual ability. Results: About 10.3% of cases were severe, 5.7% were moderate, and 83.9% were mild. Severity was significantly associated with female gender, psychiatric comorbidity, family problems, conduct symptoms, and poor anger management. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) ( DSM-IV) hyperactive–impulsive type was the only predictive factor of ADHD severity. Conclusions: The diagnosis of hyperactive–impulsive subtype may predict the severity of ADHD symptoms.

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Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in school-age children in Gaborone, Botswana: Comorbidity and risk factors

South African Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.4102/sajpsychiatry.v26i0.1525 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 26 ◽

Author(s):

Anthony A. Olashore ◽

Saeeda Paruk ◽

John A. Ogunjumo ◽

Radiance M. Ogundipe

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ◽

Attention Deficit ◽

School Age Children ◽

School Age ◽

Hyperactivity Disorder

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The Association between Lead and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Systematic Review

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph16030382 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (3) ◽

pp. 382 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Gabriele Donzelli ◽

Annalaura Carducci ◽

Agustin Llopis-Gonzalez ◽

Marco Verani ◽

Agustin Llopis-Morales ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ◽

Lead Exposure ◽

Attention Deficit ◽

Environmental Pollutants ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Hyperactivity Disorder ◽

Potential Risk Factors ◽

Low Levels ◽

The Relationship ◽

Epigenetic Processes

The etiology of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is complex and multifactorial. Although the development of ADHD symptoms remains to be elucidated, in recent years, epigenetic processes have emerged as candidate mechanisms. Lead is one of the most dangerous environmental pollutants, and it is suspected to be associated with ADHD. The aim of the present study was to review the epidemiological literature currently available on the relation between lead exposure and the diagnosis of ADHD. The PubMed and EMBASE databases were searched from 1 July 2018 up to 31 July 2018. The authors included observational studies (cohort, case–control and cross-sectional studies) published in English carried out on children within the last 5 years, measuring lead exposure and health outcomes related to ADHD. Seventeen studies met the inclusion criteria: 5 of these studies found no association between lead exposure and ADHD whereas the remaining 12 studies showed positive associations, even though not all of them were homogeneous in terms of exposure periods considered or ADHD diagnosis. To conclude, the evidence from the studies allowed us to establish that there is an association between lead and ADHD and that even low levels of lead raise the risk. However, there is still a lack of longitudinal studies about the relationship between lead exposure and the development of ADHD. Given the potential importance for public health, further research that includes the entire potential risk factors for ADHD in children must be encouraged.

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Gene–environment interactions reexamined: Does mother's marital stability interact with the dopamine receptor D2 gene in the etiology of childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder?

Development and Psychopathology ◽

10.1017/s0954579407000570 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 19 (4) ◽

pp. 1117-1128 ◽

Cited By ~ 42

Author(s):

Irwin D. Waldman

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ◽

Marital Status ◽

Environmental Risk ◽

Attention Deficit ◽

Marital Stability ◽

Hyperactivity Disorder ◽

First Marriage ◽

Age At First Marriage ◽

Gene Environment

AbstractPotential candidate Gene × Environment interactions in the etiology of childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are examined between the dopamine receptor D2 gene (DRD2) and putative family environmental risk factors that reflect mothers' marital stability. Specifically, interactions were tested between DRD2 and mothers' marital status, number of marriages or cohabiting relationships, and age at first marriage. Moderate relations were found among the marital stability measures, and mother's marital status and number of marriages or cohabiting relationships (but not age at first marriage) were risk factors for their children's ADHD. All three mother's marital stability variables were associated with either the child's or mother's DRD2 genotypes. Gene × Environment interactions were found for children's ADHD diagnoses between children's DRD2 genotypes and mother's marital status and number of marriages or cohabiting relationships. It is of interest that these interactions were strengthened with the progressive addition of sets of covariates intended to control for alternative causal pathways that represent background genetic and environmental context confounds. The present findings highlight the importance of considering both the nexus of putative environmental risk factors and whether their etiology and effects are truly environmental in future Gene × Environment interaction research.

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