Prenatal Exposure to Diethylstilbestrol and Multigenerational Psychiatric Disorders: An Informative Family

Abstract

Background: Psychiatric disorders in children exposed in utero to diethylstilbestrol (DES) are still debated. We report here the impact of DES prescribed to suppress lactation on the children born after such treatment and their progeny, focusing particularly on psychiatric disorders. Case presentation: We report here an informative family in which one or more psychiatric problems (e.g., bipolarity, suicide attempts and suicide, eating disorders) were detected in all children of second-generation (DES-exposed children; n = 9), but for II-2 who died at the age of 26 years due to rupture of a congenital brain aneurysm, and were associated with non-psychiatric disorders (particularly, endometriosis and hypospadias). In the third generation, 10 out of 19 DES-exposed grandchildren had psychiatric disorders (autism spectrum disorder, bipolar disorder, dyspraxia and learning disabilities, mood and behavioral disorders, and eating disorders), often associated with comorbidities. In the fourth generation (7 DES-exposed great-grandchildren, aged between 0 and 18 years), one child had dyspraxia and autism spectrum disorder. The first daughter of the second generation (not exposed to DES) and her children and grandchildren did not have any psychiatric symptoms or comorbidities. Conclusions: To our knowledge, the high prevalence of psychiatric disorders of various severities in two, and likely three generations, including DES-free pregnancies and DES-exposed pregnancies from the same family, has never been reported. This work strengthens the hypothesis that in utero exposure to DES contributes to the pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders. It also highlights a multigenerational, and possibly transgenerational, effect of DES in neurodevelopment and psychiatric disorders.