Dietary Fatty Acids Improve Social Impairment in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Double-blind Randomized Placebo-controlled Trail

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT01154894

Acronym

Fatty acid

Enrollment

Registered

2010-07-01

Start date

2009-02-28

Completion date

2009-12-31

Last updated

2011-06-23

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Autism Spectrum Disorders

Keywords

arachidonic acid, autism spectrum disorders, social interaction, randomized controlled trial, DHA

Brief summary

In a double-blind, placebo-controlled 16-week trial investigators administered daily doses of either youths with autism spectrum disorders.ARA and DHA supplementation significantly improved communication as well as social withdrawal symptoms. This pilot study provides the first evidence that supplementation with larger ARA doses added to DHA improve impaired social interaction in youths with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).

Detailed description

We recruited 13 individuals who met the DSM-IV criteria for a diagnosis of high functioning autistic disorder (n=1) or Asperger's Disorder (n=12),corroborated by the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised. Participants were free of any medical or comorbid psychiatric disorders. Other inclusion criteria included weigh of at least 16 kg, either a verbal or performance intelligence quotient (IQ) above 80, and a score greater than 10 on the social withdrawal subscale of the Aberrant Behavior Checklist-Community.

Interventions

OTHERAravita including arachidonic acid and docosaheaenoic acid

Nine of 13 Participants were treated with 6 capsules of Aravita per day for 16-week trial, remaining 4 participants aged under 12 years received 3 capsules per day.

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE (Subject, Investigator)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

6 Years to 29 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* Clinical diagnosis of high functioning autistic disorder or Asperger's Disorder. Free of any medical or comorbid psychiatric disorders.

Exclusion criteria

* Any medical treatment for other psychiatric disorders

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Aberrant Behavior Checklist-community (ABC)	Pretreatment and at 4 weeks after intervention for 16-weeks trial	ABC is used to estimate abnormal behavior, including 5 subscales, irritability, social withdrawal, stereotypy, hyperactivity, and inappropriate speech

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS)	pretreatment and at 4 weeks after intervention for 16-weeks trial	The SRS is assessed the severity of social communication impairment in any population.

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026