Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and/or vitamin D in autism spectrum disorders: a systematic review
Jiang Y, Dang W, Nie H, Kong X, Jiang Z, Guo J (2023) Front Psychiatry 14 1238973. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1238973.
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Abstract:
This systematic review aims to offer an updated understanding of the relationship between omega-3 supplementation and/or vitamin D and autism spectrum disorders (ASD).The databases PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, EMBASE, CINAHL, Vip, CNKI, Wanfang, China Biomedical Database databases were searched using keywords, and relevant literature was hand-searched. Papers (n = 1,151) were systematically screened and deemed eligible since 2002.
Twenty clinical controlled studies were included in the final review. The findings were analyzed for intervention effects focusing on the core symptoms of ASD, included social functioning, behavioral functioning, speech function and biomarkers changes.
The review found that the effects of omega-3 supplementation on ASD were too weak to conclude that core symptoms were alleviated.
Vitamin D supplementation improved core symptoms, particularly behavioral functioning, however, the results of the literatures included in this study were slightly mixed, we cannot directly conclude that vitamin D supplementation has a beneficial effect on a specific symptom of ASD, but the overall conclusion is that vitamin D supplementation has a positive effect on behavioral functioning in ASD.
Omega-3 and vitamin D combination supplementation has a good combined effect on social and behavioral outcomes in patients with ASD.
FAB RESEARCH COMMENT:
Dietary and tissue deficiencies of omega-3 and Vitamin D are each common in the general population - but previous studies have shown that they are particularly common in children (and adults) diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorders.Controlled clinical trials of supplementation with either omega-3 or Vitamin D still remain few in number, but as this systematic review reports, some have reported benefits on various behavioual measures. And one of the largest and most rigorous trials tested the effects of both omega-3 and Vitamin D in combination, and found modest but significant improvements in symptoms of hyperactivity as well as reductions in some - but not all - core ASD symptoms. See:
Importantly, studies have shown no evidence of adverse effects from supplementation; and as adequate supplies of both omega-3 and Vitamin D are important for almost every area of general health, supplementation makes sense in any case if deficiencies are known or suspected.
Further research is still needed - but given the known heterogeneity of any population defined only by the purely descriptive diagnosis of ASD, future trials would do well to include consideration of the many other conditions (developmental, mental and physical) that co-occur with this condition, as many of these have also been linked with omega-3 and/or Vitamin D deficiencies - most notably ADHD, and immune disorders.
See also:
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