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Meta-Analysis
. 2024 Jun 21;50(1):120.
doi: 10.1186/s13052-024-01692-z.

Effect of probiotics on children with autism spectrum disorders: a meta-analysis

Ping Zeng  1   2   3 , Cheng-Zhi Zhang  1   2   3 , Zhi-Xing Fan  1   2   3 , Chao-Jun Yang  1   2   3 , Wan-Yin Cai  1   2   3 , Yi-Fan Huang  1   2   3 , Zu-Jin Xiang  1   2   3 , Jing-Yi Wu  1   2   3 , Jing Zhang  4   5   6 , Jian Yang  7   8   9
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Effect of probiotics on children with autism spectrum disorders: a meta-analysis

Ping Zeng et al. Ital J Pediatr. .

Abstract

Background: Researches have found that alteration of intestinal flora may be closely related to the development of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, whether probiotics supplementation has a protective effect on ASD remains controversial. This meta-analysis aimed to analyze the outcome of probiotics in the treatment of ASD children.

Methods: The Pubmed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science and Embase were searched until Sep 2022. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) relevant to the probiotics and placebo treatment on ASD children were screened. Quality assessment of the included RCTs was evaluated by the Cochrane collaboration's tool. The primary outcomes were ASD assessment scales, including ABC (aberrant behavior checklist) and CBCL (child behavior checklist) for evaluating the behavior improvement, SRS (social responsiveness scale) for social assessment, DQ (developmental quotient) for physical and mental development and CGI-I (clinical global impression improvement) for overall improvement. The secondary outcome was total 6-GSI (gastrointestinal severity index).

Results: In total, 6 RCTs from 6 studies with 302 children were included in the systemic review. Total 6-GSI (MD=-0.59, 95%CI [-1.02,-0.17], P < 0.05) decreased significantly after oral administration of probiotics. Whereas, there was no statistical difference in ABC, CBCL, SRS, DQ and CGI-I between probiotics and placebo groups in ASD children.

Conclusion: Probiotics treatment could improve gastrointestinal symptoms, but there was no significant improvement in ASD.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD); Gastrointestinal; Meta-analysis; Probiotics; Severity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flowchart of study selection process in the Meta-analyzes
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Publication bias of this meta-analysis
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Forest plot of ABC(A), CBCL(B), SRS(C), DQ(D) and CGI-I (E) in ASD children treated with probiotics vs. placebo. ABC, aberrant behavior checklist; CBCL, child behavior checklist; SRS, social responsiveness scale; DQ, developmental quotient; CGI-I, clinical global impression improvement
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Forest plot of total 6-GSI in ASD children treated with compound probiotics vs. placebo
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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