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The role of probiotics in children with autism spectrum disorder: A prospective, open-label study
Sanaa Y Shaaban1, Yasmin G El Gendy1, Nayra S Mehanna2
1a Pediatric Department, Faculty of Medicine , Ain Shams University , Cairo , Egypt.
Insights
Probiotics supplementation improved gastrointestinal symptoms and autism severity in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This study suggests probiotics may be a beneficial, low-risk adjuvant therapy for managing ASD manifestations.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology and Neuroscience
- Pediatric Gastroenterology and Psychiatry
Background:
- Limited data exists on probiotic efficacy in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
- This study addresses the need for research in an Egyptian cohort.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of probiotics in Egyptian children with ASD.
- To assess the impact of probiotics on gastrointestinal and autistic symptoms.
Main Methods:
- 30 children (5-9 years) with ASD received a probiotic formula for 3 months.
- Quantitative real-time PCR assessed gastrointestinal flora.
- Gastrointestinal Severity Index (6-GSI) and Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC) evaluated symptoms.
Main Results:
- Probiotic supplementation increased Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli levels in stool.
- Significant reductions in body weight, gastrointestinal symptoms (6-GSI), and autism severity (ATEC) were observed.
- Improvements were noted compared to baseline measurements.
Conclusions:
- Probiotics demonstrate beneficial effects on both behavioral and gastrointestinal symptoms in children with ASD.
- Probiotics offer a non-pharmacological, low-risk adjuvant therapy option for ASD.
- Further large-scale randomized controlled trials are necessary to confirm these findings.
Objective:
There are limited data on the efficacy of probiotics in children with ASD, therefore, this study aims to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of probiotics in an Egyptian cohort of children with ASD.
Methods:
Gastrointestinal (GI) flora were assessed by quantitative real-time PCR of stool samples of 30 autistic children from 5 to 9 years old. GI symptoms of autistic children were assessed with a modified six-item Gastrointestinal Severity Index (6-GSI) questionnaire, and autistic symptoms were assessed with Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC) before and after 3 months of supplementation of probiotics nutritional supplement formula (each gram contains 100 × 106 colony forming units of three probiotic strains; Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Bifidobacteria longum).
Results:
After probiotic supplementation, the stool PCR of autistic children showed increases in the colony counts of Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli levels, with a significant reduction in their body weight as well as significant improvements in the severity of autism (assessed by the ATEC), and gastrointestinal symptoms (assessed by the 6-GSI) compared to the baseline evaluated at the start of the study.
Conclusions:
We concluded that probiotics have beneficial effects on both behavioral and GI manifestations of ASD. Probiotics (a non-pharmacological and relatively risk-free option) could be recommended for children with ASD as an adjuvant therapy. At this stage, this study is a single center with a small number of patients and a great deal of additional wide-scale randomized controlled trials are needed to critically confirm the efficacy of probiotics in ASD.
Trial Registration Number:
UMIN-CTR Study Design: Trial Number UMIN000026157.
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