Associations between community-level patterns of prenatal alcohol and tobacco exposure on brain structure in a non-clinical sample of 6-year-old children: a South African pilot study.

Journal: Acta neuropsychiatrica

Volume: 36

Issue: 2

Year of Publication: 2024

Affiliated Institutions:  Public Health, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA. Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA. Faculty of Health, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK. Department of Pediatrics, Keck School of Medicine, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, Department of Neurology, Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.

Abstract summary 

The current small study utilised prospective data collection of patterns of prenatal alcohol and tobacco exposure (PAE and PTE) to examine associations with structural brain outcomes in 6-year-olds and served as a pilot to determine the value of prospective data describing community-level patterns of PAE and PTE in a non-clinical sample of children. Participants from the Safe Passage Study in pregnancy were approached when their child was ∼6 years old and completed structural brain magnetic resonance imaging to examine with archived PAE and PTE data ( = 51 children-mother dyads). Linear regression was used to conduct whole-brain structural analyses, with false-discovery rate (FDR) correction, to examine: (a) main effects of PAE, PTE and their interaction; and (b) predictive potential of data that reflect of PAE and PTE (e.g. quantity, frequency and timing (QFT)). Associations between PAE, PTE and their interaction with brain structural measures demonstrated unique profiles of cortical and subcortical alterations that were distinct between PAE only, PTE only and their interactive effects. Analyses examining associations between patterns of PAE and PTE (e.g. QFT) were able to significantly detect brain alterations (that survived FDR correction) in this small non-clinical sample of children. These findings support the hypothesis that considering QFT and co-exposures is important for identifying brain alterations following PAE and/or PTE in a small group of young children. Current results demonstrate that teratogenic outcomes on brain structure differ as a function PAE, PTE or their co-exposures, as well as the pattern (QFT) or exposure.

Authors & Co-authors:  Uban Kristina A KA Jonker Deborah D Donald Kirsten A KA Bodison Stefanie C SC Brooks Samantha J SJ Kan Eric E Steigelmann Babette B Roos Annerine A Marshall Andrew A Adise Shana S Butler-Kruger Letitia L Melly Brigitte B Narr Katherine L KL Joshi Shantanu H SH Odendaal Hein J HJ Sowell Elizabeth R ER Stein Dan J DJ

Study Outcome 

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Statistics
Citations :  Bhattacharya D, Fujihashi A, Majrashi M, Bloemer J, Bhattacharya S, Buabeid M, Escobar M, Moore T, Suppiramaniam V and Dhanasekaran M (2020). Concurrent nicotine exposure to prenatal alcohol consumption alters the hippocampal and cortical neurotoxicity. Heliyon 6(1).
Authors :  17
Identifiers
Doi : 10.1017/neu.2022.34
SSN : 1601-5215
Study Population
Male,Female
Mesh Terms
Child
Other Terms
brain structure;children;low-middle income country (LMIC);prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE);prenatal tobacco exposure (PTE);teratogen
Study Design
Cross Sectional Study
Study Approach
Country of Study
South Africa
Publication Country
England