ReviewChild and adolescent psychiatry and mental health2024
The therapeutic effects of probiotics on core and associated behavioral symptoms of autism spectrum disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Review in Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07086157 (Effects of Low-FODMAP Diet and Probiotics on Gastrointestinal Symptoms, Behavior Problems, and Microbiota in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Gastrointestinal Symptoms), which is not on this map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
Effects of Low-FODMAP Diet and Probiotics on Gastrointestinal Symptoms, Behavior Problems, and Microbiota in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Gastrointestinal Symptoms
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Microbiota-based interventions for autism spectrum disorder: a systematic review of efficacy and clinical potential.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Pooled it
- Effect of Probiotics on the Symptomatology of Autism Spectrum Disorder and/or Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Children and Adolescents: Pilot Study.Research on child and adolescent psychopathology · 2025Trial
- Advancing in Personalization of Psychological, Indicated Preventive Interventions: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Adolescents at High-Risk of Developing Emotional Disorders.Child psychiatry and human development · 2026Article
- Unraveling the gut microbiota-brain axis: Mechanisms, pathophysiology, and therapeutic opportunities.iScience · 2026Review
- Research progress on dietary characteristics and feeding interventions in children with autism spectrum disorder: a narrative review.Translational pediatrics · 2026Review
- Effects of Lactobacillus Acidophilus Mediated Improvement of Intestinal Barrier in Mice with Autism.Probiotics and antimicrobial proteins · 2026Article
- Research progress on the microbiota-gut-brain axis in autism spectrum disorder: a narrative review.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Review
- Microbiome modulation and behavioural improvements in children with fragile X syndrome following probiotic intake: A pilot study.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- The Effects of Robots on Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Meta-analysis.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWe aimed at investigating the efficacies of probiotics in alleviating the core and associated symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
methodsRandomized placebo-controlled trials were identified from major electronic databases from inception to Nov 2023. The outcomes of interests including improvements in the total and associated symptoms of ASD were quantitatively expressed as effect size (ES) based on standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence interval (CI).
resultsTen studies with 522 participants (mean age = 8.11) were included in this meta-analysis. The primary results revealed significant improvement in total symptoms in the probiotics group compared with the controls (SMD = - 0.19, p = 0.03, ten studies, n = 522) but not the core symptoms (i.e., repetitive restricted behaviors, As affiliations 3 and 5 are same, we have deleted the duplicate affiliations and renumbered accordingly. Please check and confirm.problems with social behaviors/communication). Subgroup analyses demonstrated improvement in total symptoms in probiotics users relative to their controls only in studies using multiple-strain probiotics (SMD = - 0.26, p = 0.03, five studies, n = 288) but not studies using single-strain regimens. Secondary results showed improvement in adaptation (SMD = 0.37, p = 0.03, three studies, n = 139) and an improvement trend in anxiety symptoms in the probiotics group compared with controls (SMD = - 0.29, 95% CI - 0.60 to 0.02, p = 0.07, three studies, n = 163) but failed to demonstrate greater improvement in the former regarding symptoms of irritability/aggression, hyperactivity/impulsivity, inattention, and parental stress.
conclusionsOur study supported probiotics use against the overall behavioral symptoms of ASD, mainly in individuals receiving multiple-strain probiotics as supplements. However, our results showed that probiotics use was only associated with improvement in adaptation and perhaps anxiety, but not core symptoms, highlighting the impact of adaptation on quality of life rather than just the core symptoms. Nevertheless, the limited number of included trials warrants further large-scale clinical investigations.
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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.