In The Politics of Autism, I discuss various ideas about what causes the condition. Dozens of potential causes and correlates have been the subject of scientific and medical research.
A landmark study led by researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) and published in Molecular Psychiatry has identified a significant association between prenatal prescription of commonly utilized medications and the risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children.
Analyzing 6.14 million maternal-child health records from the Epic Cosmos database—representing nearly one-third of all U.S. births between 2014 and 2023—the team found that prescription of medications known to inhibit the cholesterol synthesis pathway were consistently associated with higher rates of ASD in offspring.
While previous studies grouped medications by their indications, the UNMC team grouped prescribed medications together based on common effects and side effects on sterol biosynthesis.
These sterol biosynthesis–inhibiting medications (SBIMs) include certain antidepressants, antipsychotics, anxiolytics, beta-blockers and statins. These are the generic names of the 14 medications studied: aripiprazole, atorvastatin, bupropion, buspirone, fluoxetine, haloperidol, metoprolol, nebivolol, pravastatin, propranolol, rosuvastatin, sertraline, simvastatin and trazodone. Many of these are among the most commonly prescribed medications in the United States, accounting for more than 400 million annual prescriptions.
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Publication details
Eric S. Peeples et al, Sterol pathway disruption in pregnancy: a link to autism, Molecular Psychiatry (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41380-026-03610-7 Journal information: Molecular Psychiatry
A partial list of other potential causes and correlates:
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Pesticides
- Air pollution and proximity to freeways
- Maternal thyroid issues
- Autoimmune disorders
- Induced labor
- Preterm birth
- Fever
- Birth by cesarean section;
- Anesthesia during cesarean sections
- Maternal and paternal obesity
- Maternal diabetes
- Maternal and paternal age
- Grandparental age
- Maternal post-traumatic stress disorder
- Maternal anorexia
- Smoking during pregnancy
- Cannabis use during pregnancy
- Antidepressant use during pregnancy
- Polycystic ovary syndrome
- Infant opioid withdrawal
- Zinc deficiency
- Sulfate deficiency
- Processed foods
- Maternal occupational exposure to solvents
- Congenital heart disease
- Insufficient placental allopregnanolone
- Estrogen in the womb
- Morning sickness;
- Paternal family history
- Parental preterm birth
- Antiseizure meds
- Location of forebears
- Lithium
- Aspartame
- BPA
- Brain inflammation
- Maternal asthma
- Infertility
- Ultraprocessed foods
- Household chemicals
- Parental psychiatric disorders
- Fluoride
- Fatty acids in umbilical cord blood
- Maternal inflammation during pregnancy
- COVID-19
- Wildfire smoke
