Abstract
BackgroundVitamin/mineral supplements are among the most commonly used treatments for autism, but the research on their use for treating autism has been limited.MethodThis study is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled three month vitamin/mineral treatment study. The study involved 141 children and adults with autism, and pre and post symptoms of autism were assessed. None of the participants had taken a vitamin/mineral supplement in the two months prior to the start of the study. For a subset of the participants (53 children ages 5-16) pre and post measurements of nutritional and metabolic status were also conducted.ResultsThe vitamin/mineral supplement was generally well-tolerated, and individually titrated to optimum benefit. Levels of many vitamins, minerals, and biomarkers improved/increased showing good compliance and absorption. Statistically significant improvements in metabolic status were many including: total sulfate (+17%, p = 0.001), S-adenosylmethionine (SAM; +6%, p = 0.003), reduced glutathione (+17%, p = 0.0008), ratio of oxidized glutathione to reduced glutathione (GSSG:GSH; -27%, p = 0.002), nitrotyrosine (-29%, p = 0.004), ATP (+25%, p = 0.000001), NADH (+28%, p = 0.0002), and NADPH (+30%, p = 0.001). Most of these metabolic biomarkers improved to normal or near-normal levels.The supplement group had significantly greater improvements than the placebo group on the Parental Global Impressions-Revised (PGI-R, Average Change, p = 0.008), and on the subscores for Hyperactivity (p = 0.003), Tantrumming (p = 0.009), Overall (p = 0.02), and Receptive Language (p = 0.03). For the other three assessment tools the difference between treatment group and placebo group was not statistically significant.Regression analysis revealed that the degree of improvement on the Average Change of the PGI-R was strongly associated with several biomarkers (adj. R2 = 0.61, p < 0.0005) with the initial levels of biotin and vitamin K being the most significant (p < 0.05); both biotin and vitamin K are made by beneficial intestinal flora.ConclusionsOral vitamin/mineral supplementation is beneficial in improving the nutritional and metabolic status of children with autism, including improvements in methylation, glutathione, oxidative stress, sulfation, ATP, NADH, and NADPH. The supplement group had significantly greater improvements than did the placebo group on the PGI-R Average Change. This suggests that a vitamin/mineral supplement is a reasonable adjunct therapy to consider for most children and adults with autism.Trial RegistrationClinical Trial Registration Number: NCT01225198
Highlights
Vitamin/mineral supplements are among the most commonly used treatments for autism, but the research on their use for treating autism has been limited
For the other three assessment tools the difference between treatment group and placebo group was not statistically significant
The supplement group had significantly greater improvements than did the placebo group on the Parent Global Impressions (PGI-R) Average Change. This suggests that a vitamin/mineral supplement is a reasonable adjunct therapy to consider for most children and adults with autism
Summary
Vitamin/mineral supplements are among the most commonly used treatments for autism, but the research on their use for treating autism has been limited. Two open-label studies demonstrated that nutritional supplementation - with vitamin methyl-B12, folinic acid, and (in one of the studies) trimethylglycine - resulted in statistically significant improvements in methylation, glutathione, and oxidative stress [9,10]. A 30-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled study [12] of high-dose vitamin C (110 mg/ kg) found a reduction in autism severity as measured by the Ritvo-Freeman scale. None of the children in the study were on a vitamin/mineral supplement for two months prior to the study They found that the treatment group generally improved more than the placebo group, with statistically significant greater improvements in sleep (p = 0.03) and gastrointestinal problems (p = 0.03), both of which are very common in autism [15,16,17,18,19]
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