title: Clinical improvement following vitamin D3 supplementation in Autism Spectrum Disorder.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  High prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was previously reported in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), but little is known about the efficacy of vitamin D3 treatment in ASD, although data from pilot studies seem promising. We hypothesized that serum vitamin D levels are reduced in ASD and correlate with the severity of disease. Also, we hypothesized that vitamin D3 treatment may be beneficial for a considerable portion of children with ASD.
  
  
  METHODS
  In total, 215 children with ASD and 285 healthy control children were recruited in our study. Thirty seven of 215 ASD children received vitamin D3 treatment. The Autism Behaviour Checklist (ABC) and the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) were used to assess autism symptoms. High-performance liquid chromatography was used to assess the serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH) D] level. Evaluations of ABC, CARS, and serum 25(OH) D levels were performed before and after 3 months of treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Serum levels of 25(OH) D were significantly lower in ASD children than typically developing children. Levels of serum 25(OH) D were negatively correlated with ABC total scores and language subscale scores. After vitamin D3 supplementation, symptom scores were significantly reduced on the CARS and ABC. In addition, the data also suggest that treatment effects were more pronounced in younger children with ASD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Vitamin D deficiency might contribute to the aetiology of ASD. Supplementation of vitamin D3, which is a safe and cost-effective form of treatment, may significantly improve the outcome of some children with ASD, especially younger children (identifier ChiCTR-CCC-13004498).
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  The trial 'Association of Polymorphisms of Vitamin D Metabolism-Related Genes With Autism and the Treatment of Autism with Vitamin D' has been registered at www.chictr.org/cn/proj/show.aspx? proj=6135 (identifier ChiCTR-CCC-13004498).
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pediatric Neurology and Neurorehabilitation , The First Hospital of Jilin University , Changchun 130021 , China.
authors.forename: Junyan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pediatric Neurology and Neurorehabilitation , The First Hospital of Jilin University , Changchun 130021 , China.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shan
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pediatric Neurology and Neurorehabilitation , The First Hospital of Jilin University , Changchun 130021 , China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pediatric Neurology and Neurorehabilitation , The First Hospital of Jilin University , Changchun 130021 , China.
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pediatric Neurology and Neurorehabilitation , The First Hospital of Jilin University , Changchun 130021 , China.
authors.forename: Honghua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pediatric Neurology and Neurorehabilitation , The First Hospital of Jilin University , Changchun 130021 , China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pediatric Neurology and Neurorehabilitation , The First Hospital of Jilin University , Changchun 130021 , China.
authors.forename: Tiantian
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pediatric Neurology and Neurorehabilitation , The First Hospital of Jilin University , Changchun 130021 , China.
authors.forename: Hanyu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pediatric Neurology and Neurorehabilitation , The First Hospital of Jilin University , Changchun 130021 , China.
authors.forename: Xiaojing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yue
authors.affiliation: b Department of Psychiatry , University Medical Center Utrecht , The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Zhida
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: c Department of Psychiatry and Donders Centre for Neuroscience , Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Karakter, Centre for Child & Adolescent Psychiatry , The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Wouter G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Staal
authors.affiliation: a Department of Pediatric Neurology and Neurorehabilitation , The First Hospital of Jilin University , Changchun 130021 , China.|d Institute of Pediatrics of First Hospital of Jilin University , Changchun 130021 , China.|e Neurological Research Center of First Hospital of Jilin University , Changchun 130021 , China.
authors.forename: Feiyong
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Jia
mesh_terms: D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000187:drug effects; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002762:Cholecalciferol / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000097:blood; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000150:complications
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D; D002762:Cholecalciferol; C104450:25-hydroxyvitamin D
keywords: Autism Behaviour Checklist; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Childhood Autism Rating Scale; Vitamin D