Particularly striking were the connections found between ASD and food allergy. “Although the underlying mechanisms for the observed association between food allergy and ASD remain to be elucidated, the gut-brain-behavior axis could be one of the potential mechanisms,” Dr. Xu and her coauthors wrote. “Previous studies found higher prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms among children with ASD.”
Limitations to the study include possible recall bias and misreporting, as well as an absence of information about onset of allergy and ASD diagnosis.
“Large prospective cohort studies starting from birth or early life are needed to confirm our findings,” the authors concluded.
No conflicts of interest were reported.
SOURCE: Guifeng X et al. JAMA Network Open. 2018 Jun 8. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.0279.