Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28808808›Full record

Trial reportMetabolic brain disease2017

Ketogenic diet versus gluten free casein free diet in autistic children: a case-control study.

Omnia El-Rashidy, Farida El-Baz, Yasmin El-Gendy, Randa Khalaf, Dina Reda, Khaled Saad

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Metabolic brain disease, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 66 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
66citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
6.5field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

66 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 134 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Autism - A Systematic Review.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2025
    Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW ABOUT NUTRITIONAL INTERVENTIONS.Revista paulista de pediatria : orgao oficial da Sociedade de Pediatria de Sao Paulo · 2020
    Pooled it
  5. Trial
  6. Trial
  7. Trial
  8. Effects ofNutrients · 2019
    Trial
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Modulation of pain by ketones: a mini-review.American journal of physiology. Cell physiology · 2025
    Review
  12. Article
  13. Review
  14. Review
  15. Review
  16. Review
  17. Article
  18. Review
  19. Review
  20. Article

6 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Omnia El-RashidyDepartment of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
Farida El-BazDepartment of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
Yasmin El-GendyDepartment of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
Randa KhalafDepartment of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
Dina RedaDepartment of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
Khaled SaadDepartment of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, 71516, Egypt. ksaad8@yahoo.com.ORCID 0000-0002-8473-6116
Ain Shams University · EGAssiut University · EG

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Many diet regimens were studied for patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) over the past few years. Ketogenic diet is gaining attention due to its proven effect on neurological conditions like epilepsy in children. Forty-five children aged 3-8 years diagnosed with ASD based on DSM-5 criteria were enrolled in this study. Patients were equally divided into 3 groups, first group received ketogenic diet as modified Atkins diet (MAD), second group received gluten free casein free (GFCF) diet and the third group received balanced nutrition and served as a control group. All patients were assessed in terms of neurological examination, anthropometric measures, as well as Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), Autism Treatment Evaluation Test (ATEC) scales before and 6 months after starting diet. Both diet groups showed significant improvement in ATEC and CARS scores in comparison to control group, yet ketogenic scored better results in cognition and sociability compared to GFCF diet group. Depending on the parameters measured in our study, modified Atkins diet and gluten free casein free diet regimens may safely improve autistic manifestations and could be recommended for children with ASD. At this stage, this study is a single center study with a small number of patients and a great deal of additional wide-scale prospective studies are however needed to confirm these results. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: UMIN-CTR Study Design: trial Number UMIN000021433.

Indexed as

Diet, Gluten-FreeDiet, KetogenicAutistic DisorderCase-Control StudiesChildChild, PreschoolFemaleHumansMaleProspective StudiesTreatment OutcomeAutismGluten free casein freeKetogenic diet

Identifiers

PMID28808808
OpenAlexW2745442902

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.