Effects of Maternal Worm Infections and Anthelminthic Treatment during Pregnancy on Infant Motor and Neurocognitive Functioning
Open Access
- 16 November 2012
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society
- Vol. 18 (6), 1019-1030
- https://doi.org/10.1017/s1355617712000768
Abstract
We tested the hypothesis that maternal worm infections in pregnancy affect infant motor and neurocognitive development, and that anthelminthic treatment during pregnancy can reverse these effects. We used measures which examine infant motor, cognitive and executive function, including inhibition. We assessed 983 Ugandan infants aged 15 months, using locally appropriate measures within the Entebbe Mother and Baby Study, a trial of anthelminthic treatment during pregnancy. Key exposures were maternal worm infections and anthelminthic treatment during pregnancy. Effects of other health and social factors were controlled for statistically. Of the five major worm species found in the pregnant women, two had influences on the developmental measures: MaternalMansonella perstansandStrongyloides stercoralisinfections showed negative associations with the A-not B-task, and Language, respectively. Performance on other psychomotor and cognitive measures was associated with illnesses during infancy and infants’ behavior during assessment, but not with maternal worm infections. There were no positive effects of maternal anthelminthic treatment on infant abilities.Mansonella perstansandStrongyloides stercoralisinfection during pregnancy seem associated with impaired early executive function and language, respectively, but single-dose anthelminthic treatment during pregnancy was not beneficial. The biological mechanisms that could underlie these neurocognitive effects are discussed. (JINS, 2012,18, 1019–1030)Keywords
This publication has 81 references indexed in Scilit:
- Attention problems and language development in preterm low-birth-weight children: Cross-lagged relations from 18 to 36 monthsBMC Pediatrics, 2011
- ESPECTRA: Searching the Bipolar Spectrum in Eating Disorder patientsBMC Psychiatry, 2011
- Effect of single-dose anthelmintic treatment during pregnancy on an infant's response to immunisation and on susceptibility to infectious diseases in infancy: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trialThe Lancet, 2011
- Effects of Deworming during Pregnancy on Maternal and Perinatal Outcomes in Entebbe, Uganda: A Randomized Controlled TrialClinical Infectious Diseases, 2010
- Developmental monitoring using caregiver reports in a resource‐limited setting: the case of Kilifi, KenyaActa Paediatrica, 2010
- Effect of Praziquantel Treatment during Pregnancy on Cytokine Responses to Schistosome Antigens: Results of a Randomized, Placebo‐Controlled TrialThe Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2008
- Associations between mild-to-moderate anaemia in pregnancy and helminth, malaria and HIV infection in Entebbe, UgandaTransactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2007
- The impact of helminths on the response to immunization and on the incidence of infection and disease in childhood in Uganda: design of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, factorial trial of deworming interventions delivered in pregnancy and early childhood [ISRCTN32849447]Clinical Trials, 2007
- Global Epidemiology, Ecology and Control of Soil-Transmitted Helminth InfectionsAdvances in Parasitology, 2006
- Moderate to heavy infections ofTrichuris trichiuraaffect cognitive function in Jamaican school childrenParasitology, 1992