The National Autism Database of Israel: a Resource for Studying Autism Risk Factors, Biomarkers, Outcome Measures, and Treatment Efficacy

Dinstein, Ilan; Arazi, Ayelet; Golan, Hava M.; Koller, Judah; Elliott, Evan; Gozes, Illana; Shulman, Cory; Shifman, Sagiv; Raz, Raul; Davidovitch, Nadav; Gev, Tali; Aran, Adi; Stolar, Orit; Ben‐Itzchak, Esther; Snir, Irit Mor; Israel-Yaacov, Sandra; Bauminger‐Zviely, Nirit; Bonneh, Yoram; Gal, Eynat; Shamay‐Tsoory, Simone G.; Zait, Anat Zaidman; Hadad, Bat Sheva; Gross, Raz; Faroy, Michal; Bachmat, Eitan; Eran, Alal; Uzefovsky, Florina; Flusser, Hagit; Michaelovski, Analya; Levine, Stephen Z.; Kodesh, Arad; Gothelf, Doron; Marom, Daphna; Feldman, Hagit Baris; Yosef, D. Ben; Mimouni-Bloch, Aviva; Sadaka, Yair; Schtaierman, Chen; Davidovitch, Michael; Begin, Michal; Gabis, Lidia V.; Zachor, Ditza A.; Menashe, Idan; Golan, Ofer; Meiri, Gal

doi:10.1007/s12031-020-01671-z

Cited by 23 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 29 publications

(19 reference statements)

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“…SUMC is the only tertiary hospital in southern Israel and is associated with the Clalit HMO. Cases were defined as children who were diagnosed with ASD at SUMC and who were enrolled in the database of the National Autism Research Center of Israel (NARCI), which is a repository of comprehensive medical data pertaining to those children and their families (36,37). Controls were children with no diagnosis of ASD, or other psychiatric or genetic disorders, who were randomly sampled from the computerized database of the SUMC and were individually matched to the case group at a ratio of 5:1 according to age, sex, and ethnic origin (Jewish or Bedouin).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association Between Antenatal Antimicrobial Therapy and Autism Spectrum Disorder—A Nested Case-Control Study

Abelson

Meiri

Solomon³

et al. 2021

Front. Psychiatry

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Background: Multiple prenatal factors have been associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) risk. However, current data about the association between antimicrobial use during pregnancy and ASD is limited.Methods: A nested matched case-control study of children with ASD (cases), and children without ASD or other psychiatric or genetic disorders (controls). We compared the use of antimicrobial therapy during the 3 months before conception or during pregnancy between mothers of cases and controls and used multivariate conditional logistic regression models to assess the independent association between maternal use of antimicrobials during pregnancy and the risk of ASD in their offspring.Results: More than half of the mothers in the study (54.1%) used antimicrobial drugs during the 3 months before conception or during pregnancy. Rates of antimicrobial use were lower for mothers of children with ASD compared to mothers of controls (49.0 vs. 55.1%, respectively; p = 0.02), especially during the third trimester of pregnancy (18.8 vs. 22.9%, respectively; p = 0.03), and for the use of penicillins (15.7 vs. 19.7%, respectively; p = 0.06). These case–control differences suggest that antimicrobial administration during pregnancy was associated with a reduced risk of ASD in the offspring (aOR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.61–0.92). Interestingly, this association was seen only among Jewish but not for the Bedouin mothers (aOR = 0.62, 95% CI = 0.48–0.79 and aOR = 1.21, 95% CI = 0.82–1.79).Conclusions: The reduced risk of ASD associated with prenatal antimicrobials use only in the Jewish population suggest the involvement of other ethnic differences in healthcare services utilization in this association.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association Between Antenatal Antimicrobial Therapy and Autism Spectrum Disorder—A Nested Case-Control Study

Abelson

Meiri

Solomon³

et al. 2021

Front. Psychiatry

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“…Formal ASD diagnosis in Israel follows the DSM-5 criteria and includes separate diagnoses from a psychologist and a physician (pediatric neurologist or psychiatrist) (Dinstein, Arazi, Golan, Koller, Elliott, Gozes, Shulman, Shifman, Raz, Davidovitch, Gev, Aran, Stolar, Ben-Itzchak, Snir, Israel-Yaacov, Bauminger-Zviely, Bonneh, Gal, Shamay-Tsoory, Zait, Hadad, Gross, Faroy, Bachmat, Eran, Uzefovsky, Flusser, Michaelovski, Levine, Kodesh, Gothelf, Marom, Feldman, Yosef, Bloch, Sadaka, Schtaierman, Davidovitch, Begin, Gabis, Zachor, Menashe, Golan & Meiri, 2020). Diagnostic protocols vary across different clinics in Israel, with some clinics performing standardized ADOS and standardized cognitive and language assessments, while others rely more on clinical evaluations (Dinstein et al, 2020). In this study, we reconfirmed the ASD diagnosis and obtained an index of ASD severity for individuals in the ASD group.…”

Section: Participantsmentioning

confidence: 83%

Referential expressions in monolingual and bilingual children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): A study of informativeness and definiteness

Meir

Novogrodsky

2021

J. Child Lang.

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The current study evaluated the separate and combined effects of bilingualism and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) on informativeness and definiteness marking of referential expressions. Hebrew-speaking monolingual children (21 with ASD and 28 with typical language development) and Russian–Hebrew-speaking bilingual children (13 with ASD and 30 with typical language development) aged 4–9 years participated. Informativeness, indexed by referential contrasts, was affected by ASD, but not by bilingualism. Definiteness use was non-target-like in children with ASD and in bilingual children, and it was mainly predicted by children’s morpho-syntactic abilities in Hebrew. Language-universal and language-specific properties of referential use are discussed.

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“…41,42 The diagnosis of ASD at the NARCI is a multidisciplinary process, which entails a comprehensive intake interview (socio-demographic and clinical factors), a behavioral evaluation with ADOS-2, 43 and a full neurocognitive assessment as described previously. 41,42 The final diagnosis of ASD is made by a pediatric psychiatrist or neurologist, according to DSM-5 criteria. 2 Of the 704 singleton birth children with ASD in the NARCI database (database freeze, February 2020), there were 237 children (34%) for whom the relevant ultrasound scans were available in the database of the CHS prenatal ultrasound clinics.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The case group was drawn from all children diagnosed with ASD in the Negev area, who are registered in the database of the National Autism Research Center of Israel (NARCI). 41,42 The diagnosis of ASD at the NARCI is a multidisciplinary process, which entails a comprehensive intake interview (socio-demographic and clinical factors), a behavioral evaluation with ADOS-2, 43 and a full neurocognitive assessment as described previously. 41,42 The final diagnosis of ASD is made by a pediatric psychiatrist or neurologist, according to DSM-5 criteria.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…42,43 The diagnosis of ASD at the NARCI is a multidisciplinary process, which entails a comprehensive intake interview (socio-demographic and clinical factors), a behavioral evaluation with ADOS-2, 44 and a full neurocognitive assessment as described previously. 42,43 The final diagnosis of ASD is made by a pediatric psychiatrist or neurologist, according to DSM-5 criteria. 2…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Association Between Ultrasonography Fetal Anomalies and Autism Spectrum Disorder

Regev

Hadar

Meiri

et al. 2021

Preprint

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BackgroundPrenatal ultrasound is frequently used to monitor fetal growth and identify fetal anomalies that may suggest genetic or developmental abnormalities which may develop into congenital anomalies and diseases. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder, associated with a wide range of congenital anomalies. Nevertheless, very little has been done to investigate organ development using prenatal ultrasound as a means to identify fetuses with ASD susceptibility.MethodsA retrospective matched case-sibling-control study. ASD cases were matched to two control groups: typically developing sibling (TDS) closest in age to ASD child; and typically developing population (TDP), matched for age, sex, and ethnicity. The study comprised 659 children: 229 ASD, 201 TDS, and 229 TDP; 471 (71.5%) males.ResultsUltrasonography fetal anomalies (UFAs) were found in 29.3% of ASD cases vs. only 15.9% and 9.6% in the TDS and TDP groups (aOR=2.23, 95%CI=1.32-3.78, and OR=3.50, 95%CI=2.07-5.91, respectively). Also, multiple co-occurring UFAs were significantly more prevalent among ASD cases. UFAs in the urinary system, heart, and head&brain were the most significantly associated with ASD diagnosis (aORUrinary =2.08, 95%CI=0.96-4.50 and ORUrinary=2.90, 95%CI=1.41-5.95; aORHeart=3.72, 95%CI=1.50-9.24 and ORHeart=8.67, 95%CI=2.62-28.63; and aORHead&Brain=1.77, 95%CI=0.68-4.64 and ORHead&Brain=6.50, 95%CI=1.47-28.80; vs. TDS and TDP, respectively). ASD fetuses were characterized by a narrower head and a relatively wider ocular-distance vs. TDP fetuses (ORBPD=0.81, 95%CI=0.70-0.94, and aOROcular-Distance=1.29, 95%CI=1.06-1.57). Finally, UFAs were associated with more severe ASD symptoms.ConclusionsOur findings shed important light on the abnormal multiorgan embryonic development of ASD and suggest fetal ultrasonography biomarkers for ASD.

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The National Autism Database of Israel: a Resource for Studying Autism Risk Factors, Biomarkers, Outcome Measures, and Treatment Efficacy

Cited by 23 publications

References 29 publications

Association Between Antenatal Antimicrobial Therapy and Autism Spectrum Disorder—A Nested Case-Control Study

Association Between Antenatal Antimicrobial Therapy and Autism Spectrum Disorder—A Nested Case-Control Study

Referential expressions in monolingual and bilingual children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): A study of informativeness and definiteness

Association Between Ultrasonography Fetal Anomalies and Autism Spectrum Disorder

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