Renee Gardner

Iron deficiency is common in pregnant women. If iron deficiency is severe, this can lead to anemia. However, anemia can also be caused by other problems, such as infections and diabetes. We showed that mothers who were diagnosed with anemia at &lt

30 weeks of pregnancy had a higher risk of having a child with a neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD), such as autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or intellectual disability. Because both NDDs and anemia have complex causes, we do not yet understand if maternal iron deficiency is a true cause of NDDs, hindering our ability to design appropriate clinical interventions. Too much iron can be toxic, so supplementation is not universally recommended to pregnant women. We propose to collect maternal serum samples drawn in early pregnancy and neonatal dried blood spots (i.e. PKU tests) for children affected by NDDs, their unaffected siblings, and population-based controls (total n=6200) from Swedish biobanks, and to analyze these for markers of iron status (e.g. ferritin, hepcidin). Additionally, we propose to use detailed data available from two different research cohorts to evaluate potential genetic confounding and pathways that might link maternal iron status with children’s risk of NDDs. Using a variety of complementary study designs and statistical techniques, we will critically evaluate if iron deficiency in pregnant women truly represents a modifiable risk factor for NDDs in children.