Maternal smoking during pregnancy and cortical structure in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Maternal smoking during pregnancy (MSDP) is considered a risk factor for ADHD. While the mechanisms underlying this association are not well understood, MSDP may impact the developing brain in ways that lead to ADHD. Here, we investigated the effect of prenatal smoking exposure on cortical brain structures in children with ADHD using two methods of assessing prenatal exposure: maternal recall and epigenetic typing. Exposure groups were defined according to: (1) maternal recall (+MSDP: n = 24; -MSDP: n = 85) and (2) epigenetic markers (EM) (+EM: n = 14 -EM: n = 21). CIVET-1.1.12 and RMINC were used to acquire cortical brain measurements and perform statistical analyses, respectively. The vertex with highest significance was tested for association with Continuous Performance Test (CPT) dimensions. While no differences of brain structures were identified between +MSDP and -MSDP, +EM children (n = 10) had significantly smaller surface area in the right orbitofrontal cortex (ROFc), middle temporal cortex (RTc) and parahippocampal gyrus (RPHg) (15% FDR) compared to -EM children (n = 20). Cortical surface area in the RPHg significantly correlated with CPT commission errors T-scores. This study suggests that molecular markers may better define exposure to environmental risks, as compared to human recall.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Dr B. Chaumette has received research funding from the foundation Bettencourt Schueller, speaking fees from Janssen-Cilag, Lundbeck, and Eisai outside the submitted work. Dr N. Grizenko is a member of the advisory board of Purdue and Shire. Dr R. Joober is on the advisory boards and speakers’ bureaus of Pfizer, Janssen, Ortho, BMS, Sunovion, Otsuka, Lundbeck, Perdue and Myelin. He has received grant funding from them and from AstraZeneca and HLS. He has received honoraria from Janssen Canada, Shire, Lundbeck, Otsuka, Pfizer, and from Perdue for CME presentations and royalties for Henry Stewart talks. The other authors report no biomedical financial interests nor potential conflicts of interest.
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