Trial reportMolecular autism2018
Identification of urinary metabolites that correlate with clinical improvements in children with autism treated with sulforaphane from broccoli.
Trial report in Molecular autism, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 69 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
An Examination of Changes in Urinary Metabolites With Use of an Antioxidant Supplement, Sulforaphane, in School-aged Children With Autism
Decreasing Risk of Psychosis by Sulforaphane: Study Protocol for a Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, Clinical Multicenter Trial (DROPS Trial)
Who cites it
69 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 106 citations in OpenAlex.
- Investigating the clinical efficacy, safety and molecular mechanism of sulforaphane in autism spectrum disorder: an integrated study combining meta-analysis, network pharmacology, and computational biology.BMC pharmacology & toxicology · 2025Pooled it
- Nrf2 Activators as Dietary Phytochemicals Against Oxidative Stress, Inflammation, and Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Pooled it
- Efficacy and Safety of AltibrainCurrent pharmaceutical design · 2025Trial
- Efficacy of Sulforaphane in Treatment of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Multi-center Trial.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2024Trial
- Sulforaphane Treatment in Children with Autism: A Prospective Randomized Double-Blind Study.Nutrients · 2023Trial
- Randomized controlled trial of sulforaphane and metabolite discovery in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.Molecular autism · 2021Trial
- Trial
- Article
- Sulforaphane Synergies with Phytochemicals and Pharmaceuticals: Implications for Healthspan.Medicines (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Sulforaphane in Cutaneous Disorders and Skin Injury: Mechanisms, Evidence, and Clinical Perspectives.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Targeting the mTOR Pathway with Natural Products: A Potential Therapeutic Approach for Autism Spectrum Disorders.Current neuropharmacology · 2026Review
- The microbiota-gut-brain axis as a modulator of symptom expression in autism spectrum disorder, with exploratory insights into ADHD: evidence from a structured narrative review on paediatric population.Frontiers in child and adolescent psychiatry · 2026Review
- Exploring Causal Associations Between Plasma Metabolites and Autism Spectrum Disorder.Alpha psychiatry · 2025Article
- Sulforaphane protects developing neural networks from VPA-induced synaptic alterations.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Article
- Gastrointestinal health and nutritional strategies in autism spectrum disorder.Journal of gastroenterology · 2025Review
- Glucosinolate Metabolites and Brain Health: An Updated Review on Their Potential Benefits in Neurodegenerative, Neurodevelopmental, and Psychiatric Disorders.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Oxidative stress response and NRF2 signaling pathway in autism spectrum disorder.Redox biology · 2025Review
- Nutritional Approaches in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Scoping Review.Current nutrition reports · 2025Article
- Sulforaphane and Brain Health: From Pathways of Action to Effects on Specific Disorders.Nutrients · 2025Review
- Broccoli for the brain: a review of the neuroprotective mechanisms of sulforaphane.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2025Review
9 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have urinary metabolites suggesting impairments in several pathways, including oxidative stress, inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and gut microbiome alterations. Sulforaphane, a supplement with indirect antioxidant effects that are derived from broccoli sprouts and seeds, was recently shown to lead to improvements in behavior and social responsiveness in children with ASD. We conducted the current open-label study to determine if we could identify changes in urinary metabolites that were associated with clinical improvements with the goal of identifying a potential mechanism of action. Methods: Children and young adults enrolled in a school for children with ASD and related neurodevelopmental disorders were recruited to participate in a 12-week, open-label study of sulforaphane. Fasting urinary metabolites and measures of behavior (Aberrant Behavior Checklist-ABC) and social responsiveness (Social Responsiveness Scale-SRS) were measured at baseline and at the end of the study. Pearson's correlation coefficient was calculated for the pre- to post-intervention change in each of the two clinical scales (ABS and SRS) versus the change in each metabolite. Results: Fifteen children completed the 12-week study. Mean scores on both symptom measures showed improvements (decreases) over the study period, but only the change in the SRS was significant. The ABC improved - 7.1 points (95% CI - 17.4 to 3.2), and the SRS improved - 9.7 points (95% CI - 18.7 to - 0.8). We identified 77 urinary metabolites that were correlated with changes in symptoms, and they clustered into pathways of oxidative stress, amino acid/gut microbiome, neurotransmitters, hormones, and sphingomyelin metabolism. Conclusions: Urinary metabolomics analysis is a useful tool to identify pathways that may be involved in the mechanism of action of treatments targeting abnormal physiology in ASD. Trial registration: This study was prospectively registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02654743) on January 11, 2016.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.