The association of maternal gestational diabetes mellitus with autism spectrum disorders in the offspring

Introduction. Some evidence exists for the association between exposure to pregestational maternal diabetes and risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in offspring. Less information is available on the association of exposure to maternal gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) with risk of ASD. We aimed to examine the prevalence of ASD disorders in offspring of mothers diagnosed with GDM. Material and methods. We analyzed data gathered from GDM patients (947 women; 1007 children aged 4-16 years) treated at the Department of Metabolic Diseases, University Hospital in Krakow from 1999 to 2011. We conducted a telephone survey to collect clinical information and biochemical parameters. We performed significance test based on the exact binomial probability to assess if the prevalence rate of ASD in offspring of mothers with GDM was different from available epidemiological data for children aged 0-18 years in Poland. We also checked whether there are any significant factors discriminating the mothers and offspring with and without ASD. Results. The prevalence of ASD in the offspring of mothers with GDM in our study (8/1007) was higher than in children aged 0-18 years in Poland (17.6/ /10 000; p = 0.0004). The mothers of children with ASD had median pre-pregnancy BMI (20.862 vs. 23.529), SBP (110 mm Hg vs. 120 mm Hg) and DBP (70 mm Hg vs. 80 mm Hg) lower vs. group without ASD (p = 0.0349; p = 0.0149 and p = 0.0306 respectively). Birth weight of ASD children was significantly higher vs group without ASD (3695 g vs. 3320 g, p = 0.0482). Conclusions. The prevalence of ASD seems to be higher in offspring of mothers with GDM than in the general population. Studying the potential risk factors is crucial for better understanding of this phenomenon and it may be helpful to preventi it.