Weekly vitamin A supplement improves social functioning in children with autism

A weekly dose of vitamin A supplements (VAS) is more appropriate for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and vitamin A deficiency (VAD) in improving their serum retinol and social functioning compared with other interventions, suggests a China study.

Additionally, the change in serum retinol concentrations is mediated through the retinoic acid receptor (RAR) β–CD38 gene–oxytocin axis, according to the investigators.

The study lasted for 6 months and included 138 children with ASD (aged 3–8 years; 118 males). Of the children, 82 who had VAD were divided into two VAS groups that received the recommended VAS programme (RNI-VAS) or a weekly dose of VAS. The remaining participants who had normal vitamin A levels served as controls.

The severity of social impairment before and after interventions was evaluated using the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS). Finally, the investigators measured the children’s serum retinol and oxytocin concentrations, the mRNA expression of RARs, and CD38 gene in peripheral blood before and after the 6-month intervention.

The weekly dose VAS programme resulted in higher serum retinol levels than the RNI-VAS arm did (p<0.01) and significantly reduced SRS scores (p<0.05).

Moreover, the change in serum retinol was positively associated with the change in mRNA levels in RARβ (r, 0.2441; p=0.0092), the CD38 in peripheral blood mononuclear cell (r, 0.2729; p=0.0033), and the change in OXT concentration in serum (r, 0.3735; p<0.0001). Serum retinol also negatively correlated with changes in SRS scores across groups (r, –0.2615; p=0.0026).

“Children in China with ASD are prone to VAD,” the investigators noted.