ArticleBrain, behavior, & immunity - health2026
The impact of probiotic treatment on sex-specific behavioral differences in valproic acid-induced autism animal model.
Article in Brain, behavior, & immunity - health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is defined by social impairments and disturbances of repetitive, stereotypical behaviors. However, its presentation shows sex-specific traits that may have shaped underlying mechanisms and treatment outcomes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a specific probiotic on behavioral outcomes and serotonin levels in adult rats prenatally exposed to valproic acid (VPA), an established experimental model of ASD. Wistar rats received either 500 mg/kg VPA or physiological saline on gestational day 12.5. Offspring of both sexes were assigned to 8 groups, with designated groups receiving a specific probiotic mixture. Animals were tested at postnatal day 111 in social, anxiety-related and locomotor tasks and platelet serotonin levels were measured after sacrifice. Our results suggest that VPA exposure and probiotic administration elicit distinct sex-specific behavioral responses and differences in platelet serotonin levels. ASD-related social symptoms persist only in male animals, while females generally exhibit higher activity levels and lower anxiety. The probiotic mixture appeared to alleviate social deficits in male VPA-exposed rats. However, the mixture showed no measurable effects on other ASD-related behavioral parameters and caused no adverse outcomes in either sex. Notably, female animals displayed distinct behavioral patterns and did not exhibit VPA-induced alterations, suggesting potential sex-specific protective mechanisms that may modulate both VPA effects and microbiota-related interventions. These findings highlight the importance of sex-specific analysis and timing in evaluating therapies. Therefore, sex differences should be carefully considered, given their impact on both the understanding and treatment of ASD.
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.