Department of Nutrition and Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates.
Institute for Health and Sport, Victoria University, Melbourne, VIC 8011, Australia.
Nutrients. 2021 Dec 22;14(1):26. doi: 10.3390/nu14010026.
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) present with persistent deficits in both social communication and interactions, along with the presence of restricted and repetitive behaviors, resulting in significant impairment in significant areas of functioning. Children with ASD consistently reported significantly lower vitamin D levels than typically developing children. Moreover, vitamin D deficiency was found to be strongly correlated with ASD severity. Theoretically, vitamin D can affect neurodevelopment in children with ASD through its anti-inflammatory properties, stimulating the production of neurotrophins, decreasing the risk of seizures, and regulating glutathione and serotonin levels. A Title/Abstract specific search for publications on Vitamin D supplementation trials up to June 2021 was performed using two databases: PubMed and Cochrane Library. Twelve experimental studies were included in the synthesis of this review. Children with ASD reported a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency. In general, it was observed that improved vitamin D status significantly reduced the ASD severity, however, this effect was not consistently different between the treatment and control groups. The variations in vitamin D dose protocols and the presence of concurrent interventions might provide an explanation for the variability of results. The age of the child for introducing vitamin D intervention was identified as a possible factor determining the effectiveness of the treatment. Common limitations included a small number of participants and a short duration of follow-ups in the selected studies. Long-term, well-designed randomized controlled trials are warranted to confirm the effect of vitamin D on severity in children with ASD.
自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）患儿存在社交沟通和互动方面的持续缺陷，以及受限和重复行为的存在，导致其在重要功能领域存在显著障碍。与正常发育的儿童相比，自闭症患儿的维生素 D 水平普遍较低。此外，研究发现维生素 D 缺乏与 ASD 严重程度呈强相关。从理论上讲，维生素 D 可以通过其抗炎特性影响 ASD 儿童的神经发育，刺激神经营养因子的产生，降低癫痫发作的风险，并调节谷胱甘肽和血清素水平。截至 2021 年 6 月，使用两个数据库：PubMed 和 Cochrane Library，对关于维生素 D 补充试验的出版物进行了标题/摘要特定搜索。共有 12 项实验研究被纳入本综述的综合分析。患有 ASD 的儿童维生素 D 缺乏或不足的患病率较高。总的来说，观察到维生素 D 状况的改善显著降低了 ASD 的严重程度，但这种效果在治疗组和对照组之间并不始终不同。维生素 D 剂量方案的变化和同时存在的干预措施可能是导致结果差异的原因。引入维生素 D 干预的儿童年龄被确定为决定治疗效果的一个可能因素。在选定的研究中，常见的局限性包括参与者人数少和随访时间短。需要进行长期、精心设计的随机对照试验来证实维生素 D 对 ASD 儿童严重程度的影响。
