Maternal medication use in pregnancy and offspring ASD risk: A prescription-wide, target-informed study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Certain prescription drugs used during pregnancy are associated with offspring autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Nonetheless, ASD risk following prenatal exposure to most drugs remains unknown. Furthermore, methodological challenges and ethical concerns hinder the scope for causal inference.

Methods

We used a case-cohort study design of a nationally representative sample from Israel to examine the associations between maternal prescription drug use during pregnancy and offspring ASD. To scrutinize these associations, the analyses were (a) adjusted for indication proxy (level 2 Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) codes), (b) repeated using shared pharmacological targets as exposures, and (c) inspected further through target-enrichment analysis.

Results

The s

SUBMITTER: Zaks N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12438979 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature