ArticleDrug safety2023
Maternal and Early-Life Exposure to Antibiotics and the Risk of Autism and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Childhood: a Swedish Population-Based Cohort Study.
Article in Drug safety, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 53 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Association between Prenatal Antibiotic Use and the Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorders among Children: An Updated Meta-Analysis.Current pediatric reviews · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Article
- Group B Streptococcus antibiotics treatment during pregnancy and the risk of four neurodevelopmental outcomes in Swedish children.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Prenatal Azithromycin Exposure and Risk of Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Children.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Advancing understanding of the mechanisms of autism spectrum disorder through perinatal risk factors.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2026Review
- Early-Life β-Lactam Exposure and the Developing Microbiome: Clinical Relevance and Controversies.Microorganisms · 2026Review
- Diffuse neuroinflammation and immature neuron loss in fetal Rhesus macaques after short-term intrauterine infection.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2026Article
- The microbiota-gut-brain axis as a modulator of symptom expression in autism spectrum disorder, with exploratory insights into ADHD: evidence from a structured narrative review on paediatric population.Frontiers in child and adolescent psychiatry · 2026Review
- Harnessing the microbiota-gut-brain axis to prevent and treat pediatric neurodevelopmental disorders: translational insights and strategies.Journal of translational medicine · 2025Review
- Impact of maternal microbiota imbalance during pregnancy on fetal cerebral neurodevelopment: Is there a link to certain autistic disorders?Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2025Review
- Biological, Psychosocial, and Microbial Determinants of Childhood-Onset Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Narrative Review.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Unravelling the Gut-Microbiome-Brain Axis: Implications for Infant Neurodevelopment and Future Therapeutics.Current microbiology · 2025Review
- Review
- Maternal Immune Activation and Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Integrating Molecular, Cellular and Systems Mechanisms.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2025Review
- Global and Regional Trends in Autism Burden from 1990 to 2021: A Data Re-Analysis and Prediction from the Global Burden of Disease Study.Risk management and healthcare policy · 2025Article
- The contribution of antimicrobials and antimicrobial resistance to climate change and a possible way to reverse it whilst still offering high quality healthcare-a conceptual analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2025Review
- The Gut Microbiota's Role in Neurological, Psychiatric, and Neurodevelopmental Disorders.Nutrients · 2024Review
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- Article
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 5 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionAntibiotics represent the most common type of medication used during pregnancy and infancy. Antibiotics have been proposed as a possible factor in changes in microbiota composition, which may play a role in the aetiology of autism and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Our aim was to investigate the association between maternal and early-life antibiotic use and autism and ADHD in childhood.
methodsThis Swedish nation-wide population-based cohort study included all first live singleton births (N = 483,459) between January 2006 and December 2016. The association of dispensed antibiotics with autism and ADHD in children aged ≤ 11 years was estimated by applying multivariable logistic regression and generalised estimating equations models.
resultsOf the mothers, 25.9% (n = 125,106) were dispensed ≥1 antibiotic during the exposure period (from 3 months pre-conception to delivery), and 41.6% (n = 201,040) of the children received ≥ 1 antibiotic in early life (aged ≤ 2 years). Penicillin was the most prescribed antibiotic class (17.9% of mothers, 38.2% of children). Maternal antibiotic use was associated with an increased risk of autism [odds ratio (OR) = 1.16, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.09-1.23] and ADHD (OR = 1.29, 95% CI 1.21-1.36) in childhood. Early-life exposure to antibiotics showed an even stronger association [autism (OR = 1.46, 95% CI 1.38-1.55); ADHD (OR = 1.90, 95% CI 1.80-2.00)]. Both maternal and childhood-exposure sub-analyses suggested a dose-response relationship.
conclusionMaternal and early-life antibiotic use was associated with an increased risk of autism and ADHD in childhood. However, differences were noted by exposure period and antibiotic classes.
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