研究:子宫中雌激素水平升高与自闭症有关

研究:子宫中雌激素水平升高与自闭症有关

In utero sex hormone quantities could help predict if a child has autism or not, a new study finds.

一项新的研究发现，子宫内性激素的数量可以帮助预测孩子是否患有自闭症。

“Fetal Estrogens and Autism,” published Monday in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, has discovered a link between estrogen levels and a child’s likelihood to develop autism.

周一发表在《分子精神病学》(Molecular Psychiatry)杂志上的《胎儿雌激素与自闭症》(rogens and Autism)发现，雌激素水平与儿童患自闭症的可能性存在关联。

Scientists at the University of Cambridge and Denmark’s State Serum Institute analyzed amniotic fluid samples from 98 mom’s whose fetuses later developed autism. The samples — sourced from the Danish Biobank — had previously been studied by the same group of scientists, when they measured the levels of four prenatal steroid hormones in 2015.

剑桥大学和丹麦国家血清研究所的科学家分析了98名母亲的羊水样本，这些母亲的胎儿后来患上了自闭症。这些样本来自丹麦生物银行(Danish Biobank)，此前曾由同一组科学家研究过，他们在2015年测量了四种产前类固醇激素的水平。

In the 2015 study, the scientists found the hormones were higher in male fetuses who later developed autism. This, in addition to the fact that male fetuses are known to produce more androgens (male-trait inducing hormones) helps explain why autism is more common in males, researchers say.

在2015年的研究中，科学家们发现，后来患上自闭症的男性胎儿体内的激素水平更高。研究人员说，除了男性胎儿会产生更多的雄激素(男性特征诱导激素)这一事实之外，这也有助于解释为什么自闭症在男性中更常见。

In the recent study, scientists found that high levels of prenatal estrogens — which includes testosterone — were an even better indicator of autism.

在最近的研究中，科学家们发现，产前高水平的雌激素——包括睾酮——是自闭症更好的指标。

“This new finding supports the idea that increased prenatal sex steroid hormones are one of the potential causes for the condition,” says lead study author Simon Baron-Cohen, director of Cambridge’s Autism Research Centre. “Genetics is well established as another, and these hormones likely interact with genetic factors to affect the developing fetal brain.”

该研究的主要作者、剑桥大学自闭症研究中心主任西蒙•巴隆-科恩说：“这一新发现支持了一种观点，即产前性类固醇激素的增加是导致这种情况的潜在原因之一。遗传学是另一个很好的基础，这些激素可能与遗传因素相互作用，影响胎儿大脑的发育。”

The source of the increased hormone levels is not yet clear — but scientists hope to determine its origin with future research studies.

激素水平升高的原因尚不清楚，但科学家希望通过未来的研究来确定其来源。

“These elevated hormones could be coming from the mother, the baby or the placenta, says Cambridge PhD student and study co-author Alex Tsompanidis. “Our next step should be to study all these possible sources and how they interact during pregnancy.”

剑桥博士生和研究合著者亚历克斯·茨莫帕尼迪斯说：“这些激素升高可能来自母亲、婴儿或胎盘。”“我们的下一步，应该是研究所有这些可能的来源，以及它们在怀孕期间是如何相互作用的。”

Scientists say future research should also look at how the study’s findings apply to female fetuses.

科学家说，未来的研究也应该看看这项研究的发现如何应用于女性胎儿。

“This finding is exciting because the role of estrogens in autism has hardly been studied, and we hope that we can learn more about how they contribute to fetal brain development in further experiments,” says Cambridge researcher Dr. Alexa Pohl. “We still need to see whether the same result holds true in autistic females.”

剑桥大学的研究人员Alexa Pohl博士说：“这一发现令人兴奋，因为雌激素在自闭症中的作用几乎没有被研究过，我们希望我们能在进一步的实验中，了解到雌激素是如何促进胎儿大脑发育的。”“我们仍然需要看看自闭症女性是否也有同样的结果。”

The findings cannot yet be used to screen for autism, researchers stress: Their answers are only intended and applicable to better understanding the disorder.

研究人员强调，这些发现还不能用来筛选自闭症患者：他们的答案只是为了更好地理解这种障碍。

“We are interested in understanding autism, not preventing it,” says Baron-Cohen.

“我们感兴趣的是理解自闭症，而不是预防它，”Baron Cohen说。