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Abstract

ABSTRACT:It is well known that main sources of Vitamin D are sun exposure and diet. There is a gap in our knowledge about the contribution of these factors to Vitamin D level among autistic children in Egypt. Aim: To determine Vitamin D dietary intake and sun exposure and their impact on vitamin D level. Methods and procedures: Serum Vitamin D levels were measured in 42 autistic and 40 healthy matched children. Dietary Vitamin D intake and sun exposure hours were collected using an adapted pre-validated food frequency questionnaire. Vitamin D intake was compared with recommended dietary intake (600 IU). Results and outcomes: Autistic children had significantly lower serum levels of 25-hydroxy Vitamin D than healthy children (P < 0.001) with 54.7% and 28.6% being Vitamin D deficient and insufficient, respectively. Dietary Vitamin D intake of both groups was significantly lower than recommended dietary intake. No correlations between serum Vitamin D level and dietary Vitamin D intake or Childhood Autism Rating Scale. Conclusion and implications: Vitamin D deficiency was found in autistic children and this may contribute to pathogenesis of the disease. There is a need to increase awareness about Vitamin D importance in children's diet.

The Association between Vitamin D Status and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Lastly, 34 eligible articles (a total of 20,580 participants) were included in the meta-analysis. Of these, 26 case-control studies [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][34][35][36][37][48][49][50] (1792 ASDs, 1969 controls) reported the blood vitamin D concentration of children and adolescents; three case-control studies [42,43,51], and two nested case-control studies [38,40] (2687 ASDs, 3574 controls) examined the neonatal vitamin D concentration of participants; one case-control study [52] and one nested case-control study [38] (517 ASDs, 642 controls) assessed maternal vitamin D concentration of the ASD and control groups; two cohort studies [39,41] (5442 neonates, 3957 pregnant women) investigated the OR/RR for ASD incidence after being exposed to early-life vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency. The participants of two articles included not only neonates but also pregnant women, so there were 36 total studies from 34 articles.…”

“…Besides the plausible biological explanations, some epidemiological studies also reached related conclusions. A large number of case-control studies investigating the vitamin D status of children and adolescents with ASD from different countries and races showed that autistic children and adolescents had lower vitamin D status [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31], but seven studies reached the opposite conclusions [32][33][34][35][36][37]. Moreover, several prospective studies investigated the role of maternal and neonatal vitamin D deficiency in autism onset.…”

Serum Vitamin D, Folate and Fatty Acid Levels in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Of the 20 selected studies, five provided incomplete data on or directly did not provide means and standard deviations (Farid et al, 2016 ; Guo et al, 2019 ; Liu et al, 2016 ; Wu et al, 2018 ; Zhu et al, 2020 ). The authors of these studies were contacted, but as we received no reply, we decided to exclude them from the meta-analysis.…”

“…18.39 ± 8.2 vs 21.59 ± 8.4 (Fernell et al, 2015 ) Sweden -Address the emerging hypothesis that low levels of vitamin D increase the risk of ASD 29 ASD 89% male 29 CG 14–32 months 6 months -Vitamin D levels -Vitamin D deficiency more accentuated in ASD group than in CG. 24(19.6) vs 31.9(27.7) (Farid et al, 2016 ) Egypt -Determine dietary intake of vitamin D and sun exposure and its impact on vitamin D level 49 ASD 81% male 40 CG 3–15 years 6 months -Vitamin D levels -Lower vitamin D levels in ASD group than in CG. 46.5(14–120) vs 70.89 (16–149) (Parletta et al, 2016 ) Australia -Compare PUFA levels in erythrocytes in children with ADHD, ASD, and typical developing controls, and investigate correlations between PUFA levels and respective symptoms 85ASD 80% male 79 CG 401TDAH 3–17 years March 2004 December 2010 -Blood levels of fatty acids: DHA, AA, EPA + DHA -Lower levels of EPA, DHA, and AA in ASD and ADHD versus CG.…”

“…The relationship between vitamin D deficiency and ASD is not entirely clear, and there are numerous studies, some of them quite recent, that relate deficient levels of these biochemical parameters in children diagnosed with ASD, compared to children without neurodegenerative pathologies (Agostoni et al, 2017 ; Arastoo et al, 2018 ; Bala et al, 2016 ; Bozzatello et al, 2016 ; Eyles et al, 2013 ; Farid et al, 2016 ; Frye et al, 2018 ; Garipardic et al, 2017 ; Guo et al, 2019 ; Liu et al, 2016 ; Parletta et al, 2016 ).…”