1. Boxerman S, Flores B, Yang X, Masters E, Crehan ET, French AV. Development and Evaluation of « Period Kits » For Adolescents with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: An Embedded Mixed Methods Study. J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol;2024 (Sep 14)

BACKGROUND: Patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) experience greater unmet medical service needs and decreased care satisfaction compared to those without these diagnoses. There are no evidence-based resources widely available to prepare children with IDD for menarche. METHODS: This IRB approved embedded mixed methods study investigated the efficacy of « period kits » for patients with IDD to ease anxiety and improve preparedness for menarche. Custom kits included a colorful pouch, an original social story, a resource list, and common period management items. Nine family pairs (child/adult) were enrolled. Surveys performed before and after kit exploration queried participants’ understanding of menarche, and feedback about the kit itself. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Surveys of the children showed limited knowledge about periods at baseline. Additional themes prior to provision of the « period kit » included limited knowledge, negative perceptions and emotional responses about menstruation and puberty and hesitancy approaching period conversations. After kit exposure, there was an improvement in period related knowledge and promotion of interhousehold discussion with continued room for conversation. CONCLUSIONS: Many kids with IDD have limited baseline knowledge about menstruation. Custom « period kits » may be helpful in stimulating conversation within families and promoting increased knowledge about menses to children and families. Limitations of this study are small size and qualitative nature, potentially limiting generalizability and external data validity.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

2. Charouf D, Miller D, Haddad L, White FA, Boustany RM, Obeid M. High Diagnostic Yield and Clinical Utility of Next-Generation Sequencing in Children with Epilepsy and Neurodevelopmental Delays: A Retrospective Study. Int J Mol Sci;2024 (Sep 6);25(17)

Advances in genetics led to the identification of hundreds of epilepsy-related genes, some of which are treatable with etiology-specific interventions. However, the diagnostic yield of next-generation sequencing (NGS) in unexplained epilepsy is highly variable (10-50%). We sought to determine the diagnostic yield and clinical utility of NGS in children with unexplained epilepsy that is accompanied by neurodevelopmental delays and/or is medically intractable. A 5-year retrospective review was conducted at the American University of Beirut Medical Center to identify children who underwent whole exome sequencing (WES) or whole genome sequencing (WGS). Data on patient demographics, neurodevelopment, seizures, and treatments were collected. Forty-nine children underwent NGS with an overall diagnostic rate of 68.9% (27/38 for WES, and 4/7 for WGS). Most children (42) had neurodevelopmental delays with (18) or without (24) refractory epilepsy, and only three had refractory epilepsy without delays. The diagnostic yield was 77.8% in consanguineous families (18), and 61.5% in non-consanguineous families (26); consanguinity information was not available for one family. Genetic test results led to anti-seizure medication optimization or dietary therapies in six children, with subsequent improvements in seizure control and neurodevelopmental trajectories. Not only is the diagnostic rate of NGS high in children with unexplained epilepsy and neurodevelopmental delays, but also genetic testing in this population may often lead to potentially life-altering interventions.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

3. Chen W, Yang J, Sun Z, Zhang X, Tao G, Ding Y, Gu J, Bu J, Wang H. DeepASD: a deep adversarial-regularized graph learning method for ASD diagnosis with multimodal data. Transl Psychiatry;2024 (Sep 14);14(1):375.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a prevalent neurological condition with multiple co-occurring comorbidities that seriously affect mental health. Precisely diagnosis of ASD is crucial to intervention and rehabilitation. A single modality may not fully reflect the complex mechanisms underlying ASD, and combining multiple modalities enables a more comprehensive understanding. Here, we propose, DeepASD, an end-to-end trainable regularized graph learning method for ASD prediction, which incorporates heterogeneous multimodal data and latent inter-patient relationships to better understand the pathogenesis of ASD. DeepASD first learns cross-modal feature representations through a multimodal adversarial-regularized encoder, and then constructs adaptive patient similarity networks by leveraging the representations of each modality. DeepASD exploits inter-patient relationships to boost the ASD diagnosis that is implemented by a classifier compositing of graph neural networks. We apply DeepASD to the benchmarking Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange (ABIDE) data with four modalities. Experimental results show that the proposed DeepASD outperforms eight state-of-the-art baselines on the benchmarking ABIDE data, showing an improvement of 13.25% in accuracy, 7.69% in AUC-ROC, and 17.10% in specificity. DeepASD holds promise for a more comprehensive insight of the complex mechanisms of ASD, leading to improved diagnosis performance.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

4. Chisari D, Vitkovic J, Clark R, Rance G. Vestibular Function and Postural Control in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Clin Med;2024 (Sep 9);13(17)

Background: Postural control deficits have been documented in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet vestibular system contributions to postural control have not been widely considered. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between functional balance, postural sway, and vestibular function in children with ASD. Methods: Ten children with a confirmed diagnosis of ASD according to DSM-V guidelines along with ten children with no known neurodevelopmental or motor delays participated in the study. Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency and the Paediatric Balance Scale measured functional balance ability, and postural sway was measured using static posturography with modified sensory inputs. Peripheral vestibular function was measured using cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potentials and video head impulse testing. Correlations between measures were performed. Results: When visual cues were removed, children with ASD demonstrated larger path velocities indicative of reduced postural control, and different patterns of postural sway. Functional balance was correlated with path velocities for conditions where sensory information was modified. No differences in peripheral vestibular function were noted between groups, and functional balance was not correlated with vestibular function. Conclusions: Findings suggest that while peripheral vestibular function is similar between groups, postural control differences in children with ASD remain, particularly for conditions where sensory information is modified. Furthermore, demonstrated patterns of postural sway suggest sensory system integration is less developed in children with ASD. These findings highlight the importance of utilising a range of clinical tools to quantify balance ability and consideration of postural control measures to inform intervention.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

5. Cooper K, Russell A. Insistence on sameness, repetitive negative thinking and mental health in autistic and non-autistic adults. Autism;2024 (Sep 14):13623613241275468.

Autistic people are more likely to have mental health problems than non-autistic people. We know that having repetitive and negative thoughts can contribute to multiple mental health problems such as depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Autistic people often do the same behaviours repetitively, and they may also have more repetitive thinking styles. This could contribute to higher rates of mental health problems in autistic people. In this research, we wanted to find out if higher rates of repetitive behaviours contributed to depression and anxiety, and whether this relationship was because of repetitive negative thinking. We asked three groups of autistic adults to take part in the research. Sixty-seven autistic clinical participants were recruited from clinical settings and had moderate depression. Fifty-four autistic community participants and 66 non-autistic community participants were recruited from community settings. All participants completed measures of repetitive behaviours; a measure of anxiety and depression; and two measures of repetitive negative thinking (ruminating and obsessing). Autistic community participants had significantly higher repetitive behaviours, rumination and obsessing scores than non-autistic community participants. We found that higher rates of repetitive behaviours contributed to more repetitive thinking (obsessing and ruminating), which contributed to higher rates of depression and anxiety. The higher rates of repetitive negative thinking found in autistic individuals may contribute to higher rates of mental health problems in this group. Mental health assessments and interventions for autistic people should therefore consider the role of multiple forms of repetitive negative cognition and behaviour, which cut across diagnostic categories such as anxiety, depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder. These should be considered when aiming to understand why individuals develop mental health conditions and why these conditions persist.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

6. Elgenidy A, Gad EF, Shabaan I, Abdelrhem H, Wassef PG, Elmozugi T, Abdelfattah M, Mousa H, Nasr M, Salah-Eldin M, Altaweel A, Hussein A, Bazzazeh M, Elganainy MA, Ali AM, Ezzat M, Elhoufey A, Alatram AA, Hammour A, Saad K. Correction: Examining the association between autism spectrum disorder and atopic eczema: meta-analysis of current evidence. Pediatr Res;2024 (Sep 13)

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

7. Fallea A, Vetri L, L’Episcopo S, Bartolone M, Zingale M, Di Fatta E, d’Albenzio G, Buono S, Roccella M, Elia M, Costanza C. Oral Health and Quality of Life in People with Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Clin Med;2024 (Aug 31);13(17)

This article delves into the intricate relationship between oral health, quality of life, and behavioral characteristics in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Background/Objectives: Autism has been associated with various challenges, and this study seeks to elucidate the impact of ASD on oral health outcomes and overall well-being. The research focuses on assessing overall oral health by evaluating various parameters, such as the condition of lips, tongue, gums and tissues, natural teeth, dentures, oral hygiene, and dental pain in individuals with ASD. Additionally, the study explores the influence of age, sex, and certain variables, like basic daily living skills on oral health practices, aiming to identify potential correlations between these factors and oral health outcomes. Methods: We employed standardized instruments to quantitatively measure and analyze the impact of oral health status on the overall quality of life experienced by individuals with ASD. Results: The study found a statistically significant positive association between oral health, measured by the Oral Health Assessment Tool (OHAT), and quality of life, as indicated by EuroQol 5-Dimensions Youth version (EQ-5D-Y) total scores (β = 0.13045, p = 0.00271). This suggests that better oral health is linked to higher quality of life. When adjusting for age and sex in a multiple linear regression model, the association remained significant but with a slightly reduced effect size (β = 0.10536, p = 0.0167). Age also showed a marginally significant positive association with quality-of-life scores. ANOVA results indicated that participants with advanced oral health status reported significantly higher quality-of-life scores than those with poorer oral health (p = 0.00246). The study also found that intelligence quotient (IQ) does not substantially influence dental health status, while the « Autonomy » subscale of the EQ-5D-Y is positively related to the OHAT. Conclusions: Unhealthy oral conditions significantly impact the overall quality of life in individuals with ASD. Therefore, it is crucial to include regular dental assessments and treatments in therapeutic protocols for patients with ASD.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

8. Gray HL, Jimenez C, Pang T, Kim E, Shaffer-Hudkins E, Agazzi H, Rosado A, Klinger A, Young C, Kandil J, Won S, Perez A, Sayre WD, Waters KA, Miltenberger RG, Stern M. Recruitment feasibility and dietary and behavioral patterns in toddlers with ASD: Preliminary results from the Autism Eats program. Contemp Clin Trials;2024 (Sep 11);146:107688.

BACKGROUND: Problematic mealtime behaviors and inadequate diet quality are pressing concerns for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study aimed to evaluate recruitment feasibility and baseline outcomes of the Autism Eats program for children under 3 years with ASD. METHODS: Recruitment feasibility was assessed through reach and participation rates. The Healthy Eating Index (HEI-2015) scores were calculated from 3-day food records. Problematic mealtime behaviors were assessed with the Brief Autism Mealtime Behavior Inventory. Parental feeding practices were assessed using the Child Feeding Questionnaire. Anthropometric measurements of children and parents were taken. Weight-for-length percentiles were calculated based on the CDC growth charts. Descriptive statistics, one-sample t-tests, and Spearman’s rho correlations were used for data analysis. RESULTS: Of the contacted dyads, 74 % agreed to participate. All 51 enrolled dyads completed baseline survey (100 %), and 98 % completed 3-day food records and anthropometric measurements. Significantly higher problematic mealtime behaviors were observed, compared to the reference (e.g., Total score 55.7 vs. 32.5; p < .001). Children with ASD exhibited lower HEI-2015 scores than national data (e.g., Total score 59 vs. 62). A large proportion of the children (29 %) had a weight-for-length ≥ 95th percentile. Several significant associations were found among mealtime behaviors, diet quality, parental feeding practices, and weight status. CONCLUSION: Recruitment was highly feasible, and the findings suggest that early nutrition intervention may hold promise in addressing problematic mealtime behaviors and promoting healthier dietary habits in young children with ASD. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: This trial has been registered at www. CLINICALTRIALS: gov (NCT05194345).

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

9. Hashimoto RI, Okada R, Aoki R, Nakamura M, Ohta H, Itahashi T. Functional alterations of lateral temporal cortex for processing voice prosody in adults with autism spectrum disorder. Cereb Cortex;2024 (Sep 3);34(9)

The human auditory system includes discrete cortical patches and selective regions for processing voice information, including emotional prosody. Although behavioral evidence indicates individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have difficulties in recognizing emotional prosody, it remains understudied whether and how localized voice patches (VPs) and other voice-sensitive regions are functionally altered in processing prosody. This fMRI study investigated neural responses to prosodic voices in 25 adult males with ASD and 33 controls using voices of anger, sadness, and happiness with varying degrees of emotion. We used a functional region-of-interest analysis with an independent voice localizer to identify multiple VPs from combined ASD and control data. We observed a general response reduction to prosodic voices in specific VPs of left posterior temporal VP (TVP) and right middle TVP. Reduced cortical responses in right middle TVP were consistently correlated with the severity of autistic symptoms for all examined emotional prosodies. Moreover, representation similarity analysis revealed the reduced effect of emotional intensity in multivoxel activation patterns in left anterior superior temporal cortex only for sad prosody. These results indicate reduced response magnitudes to voice prosodies in specific TVPs and altered emotion intensity-dependent multivoxel activation patterns in adult ASDs, potentially underlying their socio-communicative difficulties.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

10. Jacinto M, Antunes R, Monteiro D, Rodrigues F, Amaro N, Campos MJ, Ferreira JP, Matos R. Examining the Effects of a 24-Week Exercise Program on Functional Capacity, Cognitive Capacity, and Quality of Life in Individuals With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Adapt Phys Activ Q;2024 (Sep 14):1-19.

This study investigated the effects of two physical exercise programs for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Twenty-one participants were assigned to an indoor group (IG, n = 7; 24-week gym intervention with machine), an outdoor group (OG, n = 7; 24-week outdoor intervention with low-cost materials) or a control group. The outcomes assessed included quality of life, dementia, and functional capacity. The IG significantly improved physical well-being compared with the control group (p = .017). There were no significant differences in dementia score between groups and moments. Postintervention, the IG showed improvements compared with the control group for the 30-s sit-to-stand test (p = .03), timed up-and-go (p = .00), and 6-min-walk test (p = .033) and between moments in the IG for 30-s sit-to-stand test (pre ≠ post; p = .007) and 6-min-walk test (pre ≠ post; p = .007). Outdoor interventions appeared effective for physical well-being, while indoor interventions using weight-training machines benefited functional capacity. No significant effects were observed for dementia/cognitive decline.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

11. Ketcheson LR, Loetzner F, Wentz CF, Miller S, Pitchford EA. A longitudinal health promotion program for autistic children and their caregivers: Impact of an urban community-based program. Autism Res;2024 (Sep 14)

Autistic children, as well as their primary caregivers (e.g., parents), experience greater health disparities when compared with the general population. Despite this reality, there has been relatively little priority placed on promoting positive trajectories of health in either of these underserved populations. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the impact of participation in a 12-month, longitudinal health promotion program designed for both autistic children and their parent. A total of 27 families participated in the intervention, including 29 autistic children (83% male, M = 8.28 ± 3.60 years) and 27 parents (93% female, M = 40.04 ± 7.95). Families attended in-person health promotion programming for 90 min per week. Children and parents were evaluated at four time points across the program, including baseline (0-months), 4-months, 8-months, and 12-months. Children were measured on fundamental motor competence, physical fitness, body composition, and proxy-reported physical activity. Parents were measured on body composition, physical fitness, and self-reported physical activity. Significant improvements were observed for autistic children in motor competence (p < 0.001) and grip strength (p = 0.006), and for parents in body mass index (p = 0.004) and aerobic capacity (p = 0.003) across the 12-month intervention. Differing trajectories of improvement were noted between urban- and suburban-dwelling families on multiple outcomes. The knowledge acquired from this research may offer initial support for the need to bolster opportunities for accessible and ongoing health promotion programs for both autistic children and their parents.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

12. Retuerto M, Al-Shakhshir H, Herrada J, McCormick TS, Ghannoum MA. Analysis of Gut Bacterial and Fungal Microbiota in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Their Non-Autistic Siblings. Nutrients;2024 (Sep 5);16(17)

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a multifactorial disorder involving genetic and environmental factors leading to pathophysiologic symptoms and comorbidities including neurodevelopmental disorders, anxiety, immune dysregulation, and gastrointestinal (GI) abnormalities. Abnormal intestinal permeability has been reported among ASD patients and it is well established that disturbances in eating patterns may cause gut microbiome imbalance (i.e., dysbiosis). Therefore, studies focusing on the potential relationship between gut microbiota and ASD are emerging. We compared the intestinal bacteriome and mycobiome of a cohort of ASD subjects with their non-ASD siblings. Differences between ASD and non-ASD subjects include a significant decrease at the phylum level in Cyanobacteria (0.015% vs. 0.074%, p < 0.0003), and a significant decrease at the genus level in Bacteroides (28.3% vs. 36.8%, p < 0.03). Species-level analysis showed a significant decrease in Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Prevotella copri, Bacteroides fragilis, and Akkermansia municiphila. Mycobiome analysis showed an increase in the fungal Ascomycota phylum (98.3% vs. 94%, p < 0.047) and an increase in Candida albicans (27.1% vs. 13.2%, p < 0.055). Multivariate analysis showed that organisms from the genus Delftia were predictive of an increased odds ratio of ASD, whereas decreases at the phylum level in Cyanobacteria and at the genus level in Azospirillum were associated with an increased odds ratio of ASD. We screened 24 probiotic organisms to identify strains that could alter the growth patterns of organisms identified as elevated within ASD subject samples. In a preliminary in vivo preclinical test, we challenged wild-type Balb/c mice with Delftia acidovorans (increased in ASD subjects) by oral gavage and compared changes in behavioral patterns to sham-treated controls. An in vitro biofilm assay was used to determine the ability of potentially beneficial microorganisms to alter the biofilm-forming patterns of Delftia acidovorans, as well as their ability to break down fiber. Downregulation of cyanobacteria (generally beneficial for inflammation and wound healing) combined with an increase in biofilm-forming species such as D. acidovorans suggests that ASD-related GI symptoms may result from decreases in beneficial organisms with a concomitant increase in potential pathogens, and that beneficial probiotics can be identified that counteract these changes.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

13. Tsuji T, Furuhara K, Guo E, Wu Y, Zhong J, Higashida H, Yamamoto Y, Tsuji C. Oral Supplementation of L-Carnosine Attenuates Acute-Stress-Induced Corticosterone Release and Mitigates Anxiety in CD157 Knockout Mice. Nutrients;2024 (Aug 23);16(17)

Corticosterone, an end product of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, is a crucial stress hormone. A dysregulated HPA axis and corticosterone release play pivotal roles in the onset and persistence of symptoms of stress-related psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety. The intake of nutrients, probiotics, and prebiotic supplements decreases blood corticosterone levels. The dipeptide L-carnosine is composed of beta-alanine and L-histidine and is commercially available as a nutritional supplement for recovery from fatigue. L-carnosine is involved in stress-induced corticosterone responses and anxiety behaviors in rodents. Here, we assessed the effect of L-carnosine in CD157 knockout (KO) mice, a murine model of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The uptake of L-carnosine suppressed the increase in plasma corticosterone levels in response to acute stress and attenuated anxiety-like behaviors in CD157 KO mice. These results suggest that L-carnosine supplementation may relieve anxiety by suppressing excessive stress responses in individuals with ASD.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

14. Wang T, He W, Chen Y, Gou Y, Ma Y, Du X, Wang Y, Yan W, Zhou H. Differential One-carbon metabolites among children with autism spectrum disorder: A case-control study. J Nutr;2024 (Sep 11)

BACKGROUND: Driven by the complex multifactorial etiopathogenesis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a growing interest surrounds the disturbance in folate-dependent one-carbon metabolism (OCM) in the pathology of ASD, while the evidence remained inconclusive. OBJECTIVE: The study aims to investigate the association of OCM metabolism and ASD and characterize differential OCM metabolites among children with ASD. METHODS: Plasma OCM metabolites were investigated in 59 children with ASD and 40 neurotypical children using ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) technology. Differences (significance level< 0.001) were tested in each OCM metabolite between cases and controls. Multivariable models were also performed after adjusting for covariates. RESULTS: Ten out of 22 examined OCM metabolites were significantly different in children with ASD, compared to neurotypical controls. Specifically, S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), oxidized glutathione (GSSG), and glutathione (GSH) levels were increased, while S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH), choline, glycine, L-serine, cystathionine, L-cysteine, and taurine levels were significantly decreased. Children with ASD showed significantly higher SAM /SAH ratio (3.87±0.93 vs. 2.00±0.76, p=0.0001) and lower GSH/GSSG ratio (0.58 (0.46, 0.81) vs. 1.71 (0.93, 2.99)) compared with the neurotypical controls. Potential interactive effects between SAM/SAH ratio, taurine, L-serine and gastrointestinal syndromes were further observed. CONCLUSION: OCM disturbance was observed among children with ASD, particularly in methionine methylation and trans-sulfuration pathways. The findings add valuable insights into the mechanisms underlying ASD and the potential of ameliorating OCM as a promising therapeutic of ASD, which warrant further validation.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

15. Wang Y, Sun X, Xiong B, Duan M, Sun Y. Genetic and Environmental Factors Co-Contributing to Behavioral Abnormalities in adnp/adnp2 Mutant Zebrafish. Int J Mol Sci;2024 (Aug 30);25(17)

Human mutations of ADNP and ADNP2 are known to be associated with neural developmental disorders (NDDs), including autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and schizophrenia (SZ). However, the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. In this study, using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology, we generated adnp and adnp2 mutant zebrafish models, which exhibited developmental delays, brain deficits, and core behavioral features of NDDs. RNA sequencing analysis of adnpa(-)(/)(-); adnpb(-/)(-) and adnp2a(-/)(-); adnp2b(-/)(-) larval brains revealed altered gene expression profiles affecting synaptic transmission, autophagy, apoptosis, microtubule dynamics, hormone signaling, and circadian rhythm regulation. Validation using whole-mount in situ hybridization (WISH) and real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) corroborated these findings, supporting the RNA-seq results. Additionally, loss of adnp and adnp2 resulted in significant downregulation of pan-neuronal HuC and neuronal fiber network α-Tubulin signals. Importantly, prolonged low-dose exposure to environmental endocrine disruptors (EEDs) aggravated behavioral abnormalities in adnp and adnp2 mutants. This comprehensive approach enhances our understanding of the complex interplay between genetic mutations and environmental factors in NDDs. Our findings provide novel insights and experimental foundations into the roles of adnp and adnp2 in neurodevelopment and behavioral regulation, offering a framework for future preclinical drug screening aimed at elucidating the pathogenesis of NDDs and related conditions.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

16. Xia JN, Wang YM, Li M, Chen LP. Fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome: A case report. Asian J Surg;2024 (Sep 14)

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)

17. Zou M, Zhang Y, Li D, Li S, Hu J, Gao Y, Cheng Z, Liu S, Wu L, Sun C. Correlation of Co-Morbidities with Symptom Severity of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Cross-Sectional Survey. Nutrients;2024 (Sep 3);16(17)

This study aims to identify potential correlations of the severity of symptoms of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with serum nutritional levels, body composition indicators, diet partiality, and sleep disturbances. The cohort of this cross-sectional study included 120 children with ASD and 110 typically developing (TD) children to assess symptoms of ASD, and to measure serum levels of vitamins and minerals and the body composition values. Diet partiality and sleep disturbances were assessed by administering questionnaires. The serum levels of folic acid, copper, and vitamin B were lower in children with ASD than in TD children, while magnesium and homocysteine were higher (p < 0.05). Children with ASD had greater chest circumference, abdominal skinfold thickness, and body mass index (BMI) than TD children (p < 0.05), and higher prevalences of diet partiality and sleep disturbances (p < 0.001). Lower vitamin A levels and higher vitamin D levels were related to social impairment in children with ASD. Moreover, there were significantly positive correlations of BMI, chest circumference, diet partiality, and sleep disturbances with severity of ASD symptoms (p < 0.05). Collectively, rational nutritional supplementation, dietary management, and behavioral interventions are essential for children with ASD.

Lien vers le texte intégral (Open Access ou abonnement)