Sensitivity to food additives in autism spectrum disorder: effects and implications
International Journal of Developmental Disabilities, 2025 (SSCI, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Basım Tarihi: 2025
- Doi Numarası: 10.1080/20473869.2025.2499861
- Dergi Adı: International Journal of Developmental Disabilities
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, CINAHL, Education Abstracts, EMBASE, ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Psycinfo
- Anahtar Kelimeler: Allergy, autism, children, food additives, hyperactivity, neurobehavior, patch test, sensitivity
- Sağlık Bilimleri Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Objectives: The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between food additives and neurobehavioral symptoms and assess whether the underlying mechanism is type IV hypersensitivity. Methods: Patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and allergic reactions to food additives were retrospectively analyzed. Results: A total of 30 pediatric patients with suspected food additive allergy were referred from the Pediatric Nutrition and Metabolism Clinic to the Pediatric Allergy Clinic and enrolled in the study. The cohort included 5 females (17%) and 25 males (83%), with a mean age of 4.78 ± 2.18 years (range: 1.6–9.5 years). Of the 30 patients, 6 had positive patch test results for food additives. However, 11 patients with negative patch test results for food additives reported neuropsychiatric symptoms associated with packaged foods. There were no statistically significant differences between individuals with and without food-related neuropsychiatric reactions regarding gender, presence of allergic diseases, frequency of processed food consumption, total IgE levels, eosinophil count, or basophil count. Our study was unable to establish a relationship between food additive and ASD symptoms via a type IV hypersensitivity. Conclusions: Future studies should continue to investigate the potential effects of food additive on the neurodevelopment and behavior of individuals with ASD and the allergic and non-allergic mechanisms underlying these effects.