Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30071894›Full record

Trial reportMicrobiome2018

A prebiotic intervention study in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs).

Roberta Grimaldi, Glenn R Gibson, Jelena Vulevic, Natasa Giallourou, Josué L Castro-Mejía, Lars H Hansen, E Leigh Gibson, Dennis S Nielsen, Adele Costabile

2 registry-linked trialsOpen access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Microbiome, 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 158 papers, 12 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
158citing papers in PubMed, 12 pooled it
21.3field-weighted citation impact, top 1% 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.

NCT02720900 nacompletednot on this map

Effect of a Prebiotic (B-GOS) Supplementation on Microbiota and Gastrointestinal (GI) Symptoms in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)

TypeinterventionalSponsorClasado LimitedRan2015 to 2017Enrolled41ConditionsAutismArmsB-GOS, Maltodextrin
NCT06561724 naunknown statusnot on this mapstarted 2023, after this paper: background citation

The Application of Potential Biotechnologies to Develop Novel Probiotics Functional Food Products With High Viability for Modulating the Gut Microbiome Among Healthy and Under Stress Subiects

TypeinterventionalSponsorNational Research Centre, EgyptRan2023 to 2025Enrolled72ConditionsMicrobial Colonization, Gut MicrobiotaArmsBiscuits maltodextrin, Biscuits includes prebiotics tartoufa inulin, Biscuits includes prebiotics chicory inulin
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

158 citing papers in PubMed, 12 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 349 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Autism - A Systematic Review.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2025
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  6. Microbiota in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023
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98 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

9 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.

Roberta GrimaldiDepartment of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, RG66AP, UK. roberta.grimaldi@reading.ac.uk.
Glenn R GibsonDepartment of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, RG66AP, UK.
Jelena VulevicClasado Research Services Ltd., Thames Valley Science Park, Reading, RG29LH, UK.
Natasa GiallourouDivision of Computational and Systems Medicine, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK.
Josué L Castro-MejíaDepartment of Food Science, Faculty of Science, Food Microbiology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Lars H HansenDepartment of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark.
E Leigh GibsonHealth Sciences Research Centre, Life Sciences Department, Whitelands College, University of Roehampton, London, SW15 4JD, UK.
Dennis S NielsenDepartment of Food Science, Faculty of Science, Food Microbiology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Adele CostabileHealth Sciences Research Centre, Life Sciences Department, Whitelands College, University of Roehampton, London, SW15 4JD, UK.
Clasado BioSciences (United Kingdom) · GBUniversity of Copenhagen · DKUniversity of Roehampton · GBAarhus University · DKImperial College London · GBUniversity of Reading · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDifferent dietary approaches, such as gluten and casein free diets, or the use of probiotics and prebiotics have been suggested in autistic spectrum disorders in order to reduce gastrointestinal (GI) disturbances. GI symptoms are of particular interest in this population due to prevalence and correlation with the severity of behavioural traits. Nowadays, there is lack of strong evidence about the effect of dietary interventions on these problems, particularly prebiotics. Therefore, we assessed the impact of exclusion diets and a 6-week Bimuno® galactooligosaccharide (B-GOS®) prebiotic intervention in 30 autistic children.

resultsThe results showed that children on exclusion diets reported significantly lower scores of abdominal pain and bowel movement, as well as lower abundance of Bifidobacterium spp. and Veillonellaceae family, but higher presence of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Bacteroides spp. In addition, significant correlations were found between bacterial populations and faecal amino acids in this group, compared to children following an unrestricted diet. Following B-GOS® intervention, we observed improvements in anti-social behaviour, significant increase of Lachnospiraceae family, and significant changes in faecal and urine metabolites.

conclusionsTo our knowledge, this is the first study where the effect of exclusion diets and prebiotics has been evaluated in autism, showing potential beneficial effects. A combined dietary approach resulted in significant changes in gut microbiota composition and metabolism suggesting that multiple interventions might be more relevant for the improvement of these aspects as well as psychological traits.

trial registrationNCT02720900 ; registered in November 2015.

Indexed as

Autism Spectrum DisorderBacteriaChildChild, PreschoolDouble-Blind MethodFecesFemaleGastrointestinal TractHumansMalePrebioticsUrinePrebiotics1H-NMRAutismGOSGut symptomsMicrobiotaPrebioticsSequencing

Identifiers

PMID30071894
PMCPMC6091020
OpenAlexW2887688374

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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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.