Prenatal versus postnatal sex steroid hormone effects on autistic traits in children at 18 to 24 months of age
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Studies of prenatal exposure to sex steroid hormones predict autistic traits in children at 18 to 24 and at 96 months of age. However, it is not known whether postnatal exposure to these hormones has a similar effect. This study compares prenatal and postnatal sex steroid hormone levels in relation to autistic traits in 18 to 24-month-old children.Fetal testosterone (fT) and fetal estradiol (fE) levels were measured in amniotic fluid from pregnant women (n = 35) following routine second-trimester amniocentesis. Saliva samples were collected from these children when they reached three to four months of age and were analyzed for postnatal testosterone (pT) levels. Mothers were asked to complete the Quantitative Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (Q-CHAT), a measure of autistic traits in children 18 to 24 months old. FINDING: fT (but not pT) levels were positively associated with scores on the Q-CHAT. fE and pT levels showed no sex differences and no relationships with fT levels. fT levels were the only variable that predicted Q-CHAT scores. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary findings are consistent with the hypothesis that prenatal (but not postnatal) androgen exposure, coinciding with the critical period for sexual differentiation of the brain, is associated with the development of autistic traits in 18 to 24 month old toddlers. However, it is recognized that further work with a larger sample population is needed before the effects of postnatal androgen exposure on autistic traits can be ruled out. These results are also in line with the fetal androgen theory of autism, which suggests that prenatal, organizational effects of androgen hormones influence the development of autistic traits in later life.
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Saltarelli, M. A., Ferrante, R., Marcello, F. D., David, D., Valentinuzzi, S., Pilenzi, L., Federici, L., Rossi, C., Stuppia, L., & Tumini, S. (2022) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph19116880 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Excess Neonatal Testosterone Causes Male-Specific Social and Fear Memory Deficits in Wild-Type Mice
Quiñones-Labernik, P., Blocklinger, K. L., Bruce, M. R., Hagan, E., Preuschl, D., Tesar, C., & Ferri, S. L. (2025) · eneuro · doi:10.1523/eneuro.0020-25.2025 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“…disorder diagnosis (Manning et al., 2001; Lutchmaya et al., 2002a,b; Chapman et al., 2006; De Bruin et al., 2006; Knickmeyer and Baron-Cohen, 2006; Milne et al., 2006; Auyeung et al., 2010, 2012; Baron-Cohen et al., 2015; Park et al., 2017; McKenna et al., 2021; Firestein et al., 2022).”
Gale‐Grant, O., Chew, A. T. M., Falconer, S., França, L. G. S., Fenn‐Moltu, S., Hadaya, L., Harper, N., Ciarrusta, J., Charman, T., Murphy, D., et al. (2024) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-024-58907-w · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Longitudinal multi-omics analysis of umbilical cord blood and childhood serum in Autism
Noone, A., Dowling, K. G., O’Boyle, D., Carter, M., Golubeva, A. V., Scaife, C., Bech, B. H., Henriksen, T. B., Gallagher, L., Mooney, C., et al. (2025) · Molecular Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/s41380-025-03157-z · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Mini-puberty testosterone and infant autistic traits
Tsompanidis, A., Hampton, S., Aydin, E., Allison, C. L., Holt, R., & Baron‐Cohen, S. (2023) · Frontiers in Endocrinology · doi:10.3389/fendo.2023.1126023 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citationRisk of epilepsy in opposite-sex and same-sex twins: a twin cohort study
Mao, Y., Ahrenfeldt, L. J., Christensen, K., Wu, C. S., Christensen, J., Olsen, J., & Sun, Y. (2018) · Biology of Sex Differences · doi:10.1186/s13293-018-0179-5 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Mishra, J. S., Bhamidipati, S. K., Ross, J. R., Dangudubiyyam, S. V., Samanta, J., & Kumar, S. (2025) · Pediatric Research · doi:10.1038/s41390-025-04425-y · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Perinatal hyperandrogenization and immune activation in rodents model subtypes of autism
Burke, F. F., Randell, A. M., Sparkes, K. M., Salia, S., Hinks, M., Martin, Y. H., Porter, Z. R., Hynes, C., Maekawa, A. S., Sled, J. G., et al. (2026) · Translational Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/s41398-026-03821-0 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
No effects of siblings and twin testosterone transfer on autistic traits
de Wit, M. M., Begeer, S., Nivard, M. G., & van Bergen, E. (2022) · JCPP Advances · doi:10.1002/jcv2.12069 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Oxytocin but Not Testosterone Modulates Behavioral Patterns in Autism Spectrum Disorders
Lakatošová, S., Sheinberg, N., Pivovarciova, A., Husarova, V. M., Rozenfeld, I., Ostatníková, D., & Castejon, A. M. (2014) · Open Journal of Medical Psychology · doi:10.4236/ojmp.2014.31006 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Demasculinized digit ratios in a sample of boys with childhood autism
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Hormonal and reproductive effects
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- Authors
- Auyeung, B., Ahluwalia, J., Thomson, L., Taylor, K., Hackett, G., O’Donnell, K. J., & Baron-Cohen, S.
- Affiliations
- Rosie Hospital (GB)
- Addenbrooke's Hospital (GB)
- Douglas Mental Health University Institute (CA)
- Venue
- Molecular Autism
- Published
- 2012
- Volume
- 3
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 17
- ISSN
- 2040-2392 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3554559
- OpenAlex
- W2148934707
- Cited by
- 106
- References
- 18
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 5
- FWCI
- 3.44
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Molecular Autism (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Apollo (University of Cambridge) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Edinburgh Research Explorer (University of Edinburgh) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Wellcome Trust
- National Institute for Health and Care Research
- Medical Research Council
- Trinity College, University of Cambridge
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Sexual Differentiation and Disorders
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Keywords
- autistic traits, sex hormones, prenatal androgen exposure, fetal testosterone, amniotic fluid, saliva testosterone, toddlers, sexual differentiation of the brain
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
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