No relationship between early postnatal testosterone concentrations and autistic traits in 18 to 30-month-old children

Abstract

BackgroundSome previous research has suggested that testosterone prenatally contributes to gender differences in autistic traits, but little is known about the role of testosterone during early postnatal development (mini-puberty). Two prior studies found no sex difference in testosterone postnatally in saliva samples and detected little to no relationship between testosterone postnatally and autistic traits in toddlers. These findings may reflect late measurements of testosterone at 3 to 4 months of age, after the peak of mini-puberty at 1 to 3 months of age. The present study examined the relationship between testosterone at 1 to 3 months of age and autistic traits at 18 to 30 months of age.FindingsTestosterone was measured in saliva samples collected from children at 1 to 3 months of age. When the children (40 boys, 47 girls) reached 18 to 30 months of age, parents completed the Quantitative Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (Q-CHAT). Boys had higher concentrations of testosterone postnatally and higher Q-CHAT scores than girls. However, testosterone did not correlate with Q-CHAT scores in boys, girls, or the entire sample.ConclusionsThe current results suggest that testosterone during the early postnatal period does not contribute to later autistic traits. Given our relatively small samples and therefore limited power, however, further research could usefully examine if testosterone in saliva samples collected during the peak of mini-puberty in larger groups predicts autistic traits or other traits that show gender differences.

Vitamin D, Neurosteroids and Autism

“…In agreement with the above theory, a couple of studies on postnatal steroids in autistic patients found significantly higher levels of androgens in saliva (Majewska et al 2014) and blood samples (Geier and Geier 2007) of autistic children. In contrast, other studies found no relationship between postnatal testosterone concentrations and autistic traits in toddlers (Auyeung et al 2012, Kung et al 2016. Together, the later findings arose hypothesis that prenatal (but not postnatal) androgen exposure is associated with the development of autistic traits in young children (Auyeung et al 2012).…”

No relationship between prenatal androgen exposure and autistic traits: convergent evidence from studies of children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia and of amniotic testosterone concentrations in typically developing children

“…Two prior studies found little to no association between salivary testosterone at 3–4 months postnatal and subsequent parent‐report autistic traits in toddlers ( N = 35 in Auyeung et al., ; N = 84 in Saenz & Alexander, ). A more recent study related salivary testosterone during the peak of minipuberty at 1–3 months of age to subsequent parent‐report autistic traits and also found no relationship in either sex in a sample of 86 toddlers (Kung, Constantinescu, Browne, Noorderhaven, & Hines, ). Although these studies had relatively small samples, they converge to suggest that there is little to no association between testosterone exposure during minipuberty and autistic traits.…”

The early postnatal period, mini-puberty, provides a window on the role of testosterone in human neurobehavioural development

“…The lack of differences between boys and girls in testosterone in both studies and in autistic traits in one study limits the studies' implications for the neurobehavioural effects of mini-puberty on gendered behaviour, because testosterone is hypothesized to be influential at times when it is higher in males than in females, and to influence characteristics that show gender differences. The third study measured testosterone at the peak of mini-puberty, between aged 1 to 3 months, but also found no relationship to subsequent Q-Chat scores in 39 boys, 47 girls or the entire sample of 86 children aged 18 to 30 months, although both salivary testosterone and scores on the Q-CHAT showed the expected sex / gender differences [33].…”