Folate and vitamin B₁₂ deficiencies have been strongly associated with neural tube defects, preliminary research suggests folate and B₁₂ deficiency may also be associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We examined the association between neural tube defects and ASD as a further avenue to examine the hypothesis that ASD is related to maternal folate and B₁₂ deficiency during pregnancy. A retrospective case–control study was performed using the Military Health System Data Repository. Cases and matched controls were followed from birth until at least 6 months after their first autism diagnosis. International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, codes were used to identify neural tube defects in the health records. A total of 8760 cases between the ages of 2 and 18 years were identified. The prevalence of any neural tube defect was 0.11% in children without ASD and 0.64% in children with ASD. Children with autism were over 6 times as likely to have a neural tube defect. The increased odds of neural tube defect in children diagnosed with ASD, found through our methodology, supports prior studies. Although additional studies are needed to elucidate the relationship between ASD and maternal folate and vitamin B₁₂ deficiency during pregnancy this study supports their use during pregnancy.

中文翻译：

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检查自闭症谱系障碍与神经管缺陷之间的关系

叶酸和维生素 B ₁₂缺乏与神经管缺陷密切相关，初步研究表明叶酸和维生素 B ₁₂缺乏也可能与自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 相关。_{我们研究了神经管缺陷与 ASD 之间的关联，作为进一步验证 ASD 与母体叶酸和 B 12}相关的假设的途径怀孕期间缺乏。使用军事卫生系统数据存储库进行了回顾性病例对照研究。病例和匹配的对照者从出生起一直被追踪到首次诊断出自闭症后至少 6 个月。国际疾病分类第 9 版代码用于识别健康记录中的神经管缺陷。总共发现了 8760 名年龄在 2 岁至 18 岁之间的病例。无 ASD 儿童中任何神经管缺陷的患病率为 0.11%，而患有 ASD 儿童中的任何神经管缺陷患病率为 0.64%。患有自闭症的儿童出现神经管缺陷的可能性是其他儿童的六倍多。通过我们的方法发现，诊断患有自闭症谱系障碍的儿童出现神经管缺陷的几率增加，这支持了之前的研究。₁₂怀孕期间的缺乏症 这项研究支持它们在怀孕期间的使用。