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Offspring exposure to Crohn's disease during pregnancy and association with milder psychiatric regulatory disturbances in childhood

Skott, Elin ; Söderberg, Gustav ; Giacobini, Mai Britt ; Nivins, Samson ; Chen, Xinxia ; Lindqvist, Daniel LU ; Gissler, Mika ; Sjöberg, Klas LU orcid and Lavebratt, Catharina (2025) In Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica 104(8). p.1463-1474
Abstract

Introduction: Prenatal exposure to inflammatory states has been suggested to influence offspring neurodevelopment. The aim was to investigate if offspring exposure to maternal Inflammatory bowel disorder (IBD), or specifically the IBD disorder Crohn's disease, during gestation is associated with neurodevelopmental or psychiatric disorders in childhood. Material and Methods: We conducted a population-based registry study in Finland. All live births from 1996 until 2014 in Finland were included and followed up until December 2018. Exposure was maternal IBD or Crohn's disease. Outcome was a broad range of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders in offspring. Cox proportional hazards regression was applied to assess association.... (More)

Introduction: Prenatal exposure to inflammatory states has been suggested to influence offspring neurodevelopment. The aim was to investigate if offspring exposure to maternal Inflammatory bowel disorder (IBD), or specifically the IBD disorder Crohn's disease, during gestation is associated with neurodevelopmental or psychiatric disorders in childhood. Material and Methods: We conducted a population-based registry study in Finland. All live births from 1996 until 2014 in Finland were included and followed up until December 2018. Exposure was maternal IBD or Crohn's disease. Outcome was a broad range of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders in offspring. Cox proportional hazards regression was applied to assess association. Sensitivity analyses included assessing, for example, exposure to severe episode of IBD or Crohn's disease, the outcome psychotropic medication for the children, and influence from perinatal risk factors. Results: Of the participants (N = 1 105 997), 0.55% (N = 6067) were exposed to maternal IBD 0.18% (N = 1959) to maternal Crohn's disease. Among the children exposed to IBD or the subgroup Crohn's disease, 6.3% or 7.3%, respectively, had received an outcome diagnosis during the follow-up. There were higher risks for Sleeping disorders HR = 1.77 (95% CI, 1.13–2.78), Other feeding disorders HR = 1.83 (95% CI, 1.19, 2.19), and Incontinence HR = 1.42 (95% CI, 1.02–1.97) in children exposed to maternal Crohn's disease compared to unexposed children. This was supported by even higher point risk estimates for Incontinence HR = 2.43 (95% CI, 1.34–4.38) and Other feeding disorders HR = 2.83 (95% CI, 1.35–5.91) in offspring where the mother was hospitalized for Crohn's disease during pregnancy. Furthermore, there was a higher risk of dispensed antipsychotic, anxiolytic, hypnotic, and/or sedative medications for children with maternal Crohn's disease HR = 1.38 (95% CI, 1.03–1.85). These associations were not explained by cesarean section, preterm birth, or small birth size. Conclusions: Offspring exposed to maternal Crohn's disease during pregnancy had modestly higher risks of early sleeping, continence, and feeding disturbances. The exposure had no detectable association with any of the other psychiatric disorders studied.

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; ; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Crohn's disease, pregnancy, feeding disorder, incontinence, maternal, sleeping disorder
in
Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica
volume
104
issue
8
pages
12 pages
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • pmid:40492456
  • scopus:105007883174
ISSN
0001-6349
DOI
10.1111/aogs.15167
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s). Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology (NFOG).
id
457ee593-ae48-43af-9b17-e1356dbccd19
date added to LUP
2025-11-27 14:01:03
date last changed
2025-11-28 03:00:04
@article{457ee593-ae48-43af-9b17-e1356dbccd19,
  abstract     = {{<p>Introduction: Prenatal exposure to inflammatory states has been suggested to influence offspring neurodevelopment. The aim was to investigate if offspring exposure to maternal Inflammatory bowel disorder (IBD), or specifically the IBD disorder Crohn's disease, during gestation is associated with neurodevelopmental or psychiatric disorders in childhood. Material and Methods: We conducted a population-based registry study in Finland. All live births from 1996 until 2014 in Finland were included and followed up until December 2018. Exposure was maternal IBD or Crohn's disease. Outcome was a broad range of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders in offspring. Cox proportional hazards regression was applied to assess association. Sensitivity analyses included assessing, for example, exposure to severe episode of IBD or Crohn's disease, the outcome psychotropic medication for the children, and influence from perinatal risk factors. Results: Of the participants (N = 1 105 997), 0.55% (N = 6067) were exposed to maternal IBD 0.18% (N = 1959) to maternal Crohn's disease. Among the children exposed to IBD or the subgroup Crohn's disease, 6.3% or 7.3%, respectively, had received an outcome diagnosis during the follow-up. There were higher risks for Sleeping disorders HR = 1.77 (95% CI, 1.13–2.78), Other feeding disorders HR = 1.83 (95% CI, 1.19, 2.19), and Incontinence HR = 1.42 (95% CI, 1.02–1.97) in children exposed to maternal Crohn's disease compared to unexposed children. This was supported by even higher point risk estimates for Incontinence HR = 2.43 (95% CI, 1.34–4.38) and Other feeding disorders HR = 2.83 (95% CI, 1.35–5.91) in offspring where the mother was hospitalized for Crohn's disease during pregnancy. Furthermore, there was a higher risk of dispensed antipsychotic, anxiolytic, hypnotic, and/or sedative medications for children with maternal Crohn's disease HR = 1.38 (95% CI, 1.03–1.85). These associations were not explained by cesarean section, preterm birth, or small birth size. Conclusions: Offspring exposed to maternal Crohn's disease during pregnancy had modestly higher risks of early sleeping, continence, and feeding disturbances. The exposure had no detectable association with any of the other psychiatric disorders studied.</p>}},
  author       = {{Skott, Elin and Söderberg, Gustav and Giacobini, Mai Britt and Nivins, Samson and Chen, Xinxia and Lindqvist, Daniel and Gissler, Mika and Sjöberg, Klas and Lavebratt, Catharina}},
  issn         = {{0001-6349}},
  keywords     = {{Crohn's disease, pregnancy, feeding disorder; incontinence; maternal; sleeping disorder}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{8}},
  pages        = {{1463--1474}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica}},
  title        = {{Offspring exposure to Crohn's disease during pregnancy and association with milder psychiatric regulatory disturbances in childhood}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/aogs.15167}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/aogs.15167}},
  volume       = {{104}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}