Two studies published 9 July bolster the hypothesis that immune molecules in a pregnant woman’s bloodstream may sometimes cause autism in her child.

Watch the complete replay of Sarkis Mazmanian discussing new findings that support a connection between the gut microbiome and the autism brain. Submit your own follow-up questions.

Infection during pregnancy may alter the chemical tags that are added to histones, proteins that form a spool for DNA, according to a study published 9 February in Brain, Behavior and Immunity. Drugs that target these tags may treat neuropsychiatric disorders, the researchers say.

Exposure to immune factors during gestation may account for the social deficits seen in a mouse model of autism, according to a study published 15 May in the Journal of Neuroimmunology. Fetuses of a normal mouse strain develop the same social deficits when exposed to the immune factors.

Maternal antibodies that raise the risk of autism when a fetus is exposed to them in utero may lead to elevated head size in the child, according to a study published 8 February in Brain, Behavior and Immunity.

Women who report being abused as children are more likely to have a child with autism, according to a new report from the Nurses’ Health Study, published 20 March in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

A century-old drug created to treat African sleeping sickness reverses several autism-like features in a mouse model of the disorder, according to a study published 13 March in PLoS ONE.

Women who have high levels of C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation, early in their pregnancies are at increased risk of having children with autism, reports a study published 22 January in Molecular Psychiatry.

Maternal health seems to have little impact on autism risk, according to a study published 7 January in PLoS One. The more serious risk is for intellectual disability, which can often occur along with autism.

Women who have the flu while pregnant double their risk of having a child with autism, according to a large study published 12 November in Pediatrics. The results add to growing evidence of a connection between maternal infection and autism.