Table 6.
ASD.
| Study Design | Country | No. | Age Group | Disease | Daily Dosage (g/d) | Duration | Rating Scale | Outcome | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amminger et al., 2007 [110] | Randomised, double-blind, placebo controlled trial | Austria | 13 | 5–17 years | ASD | EPA 840 mg/d + DHA 700 mg/d Or placebo |
6 weeks | - ABC | Advantage of n-3 PUFAs compared with placebo for hyperactive behaviours and stereotypy. |
| Johnson et al., 2010 [114] | Prospective, open label trial | USA | 23 | 44.7 m (s.d. = 7.63) years | ASD (n = 17)PDD, NOS (n = 6) | DHA 400 mg/d | 12 weeks | - CBCL - ADOS |
No clinical improvements were observed. |
| Bent et al., 2011 [115] | Pilot randomised placebo controlled trial | USA | 27 | 3–8 years | ASD | EPA 350 mg/d + DHA 230 mg/d or placebo | 12 weeks | - SRS - CGI - BASC - ABC |
Not statistically significant improvements in the treatment group vs. the placebo. |
| Yui et al., 2012 [111] | Randomised, double-blind, placebo controlled trial | Japan | 13 | 6–28 years | ASD | DHA 240 mg/d + ARA 240 mg/dor placebo | 16 weeks | - SRS - ABC |
Improvement of social deficit in individuals with ASD. |
| Voigt et al., 2014 [116] | Randomised, double-blind, placebo controlled trial | USA | 48 | 3–10 years | ASD | DHA 200 mg/d or placebo | 24 weeks | - CGI-I - ABC - CDI - BASC |
No improvement in core symptoms of autism. |
| Ooi et al., 2015 [112] | Open label trial | Singapore | 41 | 7–18 years | ASD | DHA 840 mg/d + EPA 192 mg/d | 12 weeks | - SRS-P - CBCL |
Significant improvements on all subscales of the Social Responsiveness Scale (p < 0.01) and the Social and Attention Problems syndrome scales of the Child Behaviour Checklist (p < 0.05). |
| Parellada et al., 2017 [117] | Randomized, crossover, placebo controlled trial | SPAIN | 68 | 5–17 years | ASD | PUFAs 962 mg/d for children and 1155 mg/d for adolescents or placebo | 8 weeks | - SRS | No treatment effect. |
| Keim et al., 2018 [113] | Randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled trial | USA | 31 | 18–38 years | ASD | EPA 338 mg/d + DHA 225 mg/d + GLA 83 mg/d or placebo | 12 weeks | - BITSEA - PDDST-II - Ages and Stages Questionnaire-Social Emotional |
Significant improvements in ASD symptoms measured by the BITSEA, but no significant effects were observed on other outcome measures. |
ABC: Aberrant Behaviour Checklist; ADOS: Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule; ASD: Autism Spectrum Disorder; BASC: Behaviour Assessment Scale for Children; BITSEA: Brief Infant Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment; CBCL: Child Behaviour Checklist; CGI: Clinical Global Impressions; PDDST-II: Pervasive Developmental Disorders Screening Test II; SRS (-P): Social Responsiveness Scale (–Parent).