A Biology-First Approach in Perinatal Pharmacoepidemiology of Autism

In this issue ofJAMA Psychiatry, Janecka et al conclude that maternal prenatal use of most medications that target specific neurotransmitter systems is not associated with offspring autism. This is a new perspective to consider in view of the hypothesis that there could be adverse neurodevelopmental effects of prenatal medications affecting serotonergic, GABAergic, and glutaminergic neurotransmitters. Although results vary, previous studies have warned of potential bias arising from confounding by maternal indications for prenatal drug treatments, which are stubbornly difficult to resolve. Janecka et al grouped medications into classes on the basis of each drug ’s target neurotransmitter, regardless of the drug’s medical indication, and then estimated autism risk associated with maternal use of a drug in a class targeting a common neurotransmitter. They called this a biology-first approach to highlight that their autism risk assessment was linked to th e drugs’ shared pharmacological effect and functional similarities while disassociated from the underlying indication.

Source: JAMA Psychiatry - October 31, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research