Effect of Selenium Micronutrient on Inflammatory Status in Autism Spectrum Disorder Children: A Randomized Control Trial

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) children are characterized by increased proinflammatory agents. Previous studies found that administration of selenium can reduce inflammation; however, those studies were conducted on ASD mice model, and no study was conducted on the ASD patients. It is suspected that selenium could improve the development of ASD children by decreasing inflammation.

The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of selenium on inflammatory status in ASD children.

This study was a randomized control trial. A total of 66 ASD children were selected and were randomly allocated to the first selenium intervention group (n=22), second selenium intervention group (n=22), and group control (n=22). Selenium as functional food and supplement was given to the intervention group for three months. The inflammatory state was measured by IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α serum. The ASD severity was measured by the autism treatment evaluation checklist (ATEC). Moreover, the intention-to-treat analysis was used in this study. The Wilcoxon test was used to compare before and after the intervention and Kruskal-Wallis test to compare the changes after the intervention.

Based on findings of the present research, some insignificant changes in IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α were observed in the selenium intervention and control groups. The selenium intervention groups experienced a significant decrease in ATEC scores compared to the control group (P<0.05).

Implications for Practice:

 Although selenium did not decrease inflammatory status in ASD children, it could decrease the ASD severity. Appropriate interventions are needed to improve the inflammation in ASD children.