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Abstract

There is a rising interest in the use of dietary interventions to ameliorate prevalent brain diseases, including Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Nowadays, the existence of communication between gut and brain is well accepted and thus diet can influence brain functioning. A well-known nutrition based intervention for ASD is the gluten-free and casein-free diet. However, only some of the patients experience a relief in symptoms and thus efficacy seems to be limited to certain phenotypes. However, not much is known about the mechanism of action through which this diet might work, or about interpersonal differences that could lead to variation in response to the diet. Current evidence for efficacy of the GFCF diet is poor. Large scale, good quality randomized controlled trials are needed. Genetic and environmentally induced interpersonal differences were found in intestinal membrane permeability and blood brain barrier integrity as well as in activity of peptidase enzymes. These differences probably affect responsiveness to the diet. In addition, age and duration of the dietary intervention play a role in the efficacy of the gluten-free and casein-free diet. This is the reason why all these factors need to be taken into account to give appropriate advice about whether or not to follow this diet.Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder; Casein-free; Casomorphin; Diet; Gluten-free; Intervention; Opioid; Peptides; Permeability Treating Autism Spectrum Disorder with Gluten-free and Casein-free Diet: The underlying Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis MechanismsCitation: Cieślińska A, Kostyra E, Savelkoul HFJ (2017) Treating Autism Spectrum Disorder with • (GFCF) diet is strongly promoted while there are additional diets without salicylates and phenols, and anti-candida diets since many ASD patients are affected by this yeast [17]. However, so far it has been difficult to prove the effectiveness of this diet in all patients [10,18]. Limited information is available on the underlying mechanism as well as explanatory factors of differences in response to the GFCF diet. Here, we focus on the mechanism of action underlying this dietary intervention as well as the origin of differences in response to the GFCF diet. Gluten-Free and Casein-Free Diet Might Alleviate Autism Spectrum Disorder SymptomsPeople with ASD are often in need of intensive care and guidance, leading to loss of parental productivity and high emotional and economic costs [8,19]. Therefore it is important to investigate potential treatments that alleviate the symptoms or preferably cure the disease. So far, sometimes life long, educational and behavioral interventions are used, although these therapies have limited efficacy for ASD [6,20]. Currently, there is growing interest in nutritional interventions for this disorder and there are promising mechanisms underlying the putative success of such interventions [19].In 1983 it was suggested that gluten and casein containing products could cause autism-like symptoms by altering the functioning of the brain. It was propo...