Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32844208›Full record

ArticleThe American journal of clinical nutrition2020

A prospective birth cohort study on cord blood folate subtypes and risk of autism spectrum disorder.

Ramkripa Raghavan, Jacob Selhub, Ligi Paul, Yuelong Ji, Guoying Wang, Xiumei Hong, Barry Zuckerman, M Daniele Fallin, Xiaobin Wang

Open access · greenAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in The American journal of clinical nutrition, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
34citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
3.2field-weighted citation impact, top 7% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

34 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 46 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Trial
  4. Trial
  5. Trial
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Maternal Mediterranean-Style Diet During Pregnancy and Child Social Impairment as Measured by the Social Responsiveness Scale.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2025
    Article
  11. Review
  12. Article
  13. Review
  14. Review
  15. Article
  16. Review
  17. Article
  18. Prenatal folic acid and vitamin BCommunications biology · 2023
    Article
  19. Review
  20. Scientific opinion on the tolerable upper intake level for folate.EFSA journal. European Food Safety Authority · 2023
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Ramkripa RaghavanCenter on Early Life Origins of Disease, Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Jacob SelhubJean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center for Aging at Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA.
Ligi PaulJean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center for Aging at Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA.
Yuelong JiCenter on Early Life Origins of Disease, Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Guoying WangCenter on Early Life Origins of Disease, Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Xiumei HongCenter on Early Life Origins of Disease, Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Barry ZuckermanDepartment of Pediatrics, Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA.
M Daniele FallinDepartment of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Xiaobin WangCenter on Early Life Origins of Disease, Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Johns Hopkins University · USTufts University · USBoston University · US

Funding

Preterm Birth, Maternal and Cord Blood Metabolome, and Child Metabolic RiskR01HD041702 · NICHD · LURIE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF CHICAGO · PI Frank B Hu, XIAOBIN WANG · 2001 to 2026
$11.1M
Early Life Determinants of Obesity in U.S. Urban Low Income Minority Birth CohortR01HD086013 · NICHD · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI LEE, BRUCE Y, WANG, XIAOBIN · 2016 to 2020
$3.3M
Inter-generational Link of Cardio-Metabolic Risk: Integrate Multi-OMICs with Birth CohortR01HD098232 · NICHD · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI LIANG, LIMING, WANG, XIAOBIN · 2019 to 2022
$2.7M
Post Genome-Wide Association Study of Food AllergyU01AI090727 · NIAID · LURIE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF CHICAGO · PI WANG, XIAOBIN · 2010 to 2014
$2.3M
Molecular Epidemiology of Preterm BirthR21ES011666 · NIEHS · CHILDREN'S MEMORIAL HOSPITAL (CHICAGO) · PI WANG, XIAOBIN · 2002 to 2004
$562k
Establishing Precursors of Food Allergy in NewbornsR21AI079872 · NIAID · LURIE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF CHICAGO · PI WANG, XIAOBIN · 2008 to 2009
$447k
Epigenome-wide Association Study of Preterm BirthR21HD066471 · NICHD · LURIE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF CHICAGO · PI WANG, XIAOBIN · 2010 to 2011
$354k
NIAID NIH HHS R21 AI079872NIAID NIH HHS U01 AI090727NICHD NIH HHS R01 HD041702NICHD NIH HHS R01 HD086013NICHD NIH HHS R01 HD098232NICHD NIH HHS R21 HD066471NIEHS NIH HHS R21 ES011666
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundWe previously reported that extremely high concentrations of maternal plasma folate were associated with increased risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children. This study explored whether specific types of folate in cord blood have differential association with ASD.

objectivesIn the Boston Birth Cohort (BBC), we assessed the association between cord blood unmetabolized folic acid (UMFA), 5-methyl tetrahydrofolate (THF), and total folate and a child's ASD risk. In a subset, we explored whether the association between UMFA and ASD risk can be affected by the dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) genotype and cord plasma creatinine. We also examined prenatal correlates of cord UMFA concentrations.

methodsThis report included 567 BBC children (92 ASD, 475 neurotypical), who were recruited at birth and prospectively followed at the Boston Medical Center. ASD was defined from International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-9 and ICD-10 codes documented in electronic medical records.

resultsChildren with cord UMFA in the highest, versus lowest quartile, had a greater ASD risk (adjusted OR, aORquartile4: 2.26; 95% CI: 1.08, 4.75). When stratified by race/ethnicity, the association was limited to 311 (45 ASD) Black children (aORquartile4: 9.85; 95% CI: 2.53, 38.31); a test of interaction between race/ethnicity and cord UMFA concentrations was significant (P = 0.007). The UMFA-ASD association in Black children slightly attenuated after adjusting for cord plasma creatinine (P = 0.05). There was no significant association between cord 5-methyl THF, total folate, DHFR genotype, and ASD risk. Cord total folate and maternal supplement intake during second trimester were associated with higher cord UMFA.

conclusionsHigher concentrations of cord UMFA, but not 5-methyl THF or total folate, were associated with a greater risk of ASD in Black children. This study in a preterm-birth-enriched cohort raises more questions than it could answer and underscores the need for additional investigations on the sources and role of cord UMFA in children's neurodevelopmental outcomes and underlying mechanisms.

Indexed as

Fetal BloodAutism Spectrum DisorderCohort StudiesFolic AcidHumansInfant, NewbornOdds RatioProspective StudiesTetrahydrofolates5-methyltetrahydrofolateFolic AcidTetrahydrofolatesASDautismfolatefolic acidpregnancyunmetabolized folic acid

Identifiers

PMID32844208
PMCPMC7657337
OpenAlexW3080621598

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.