Clinical Trials Directory

Trials / Completed

CompletedNCT04639141

Combined Gut-brain Therapy for Children With Autism

The Utility of a Synbiotic With Adjunct Gut-directed Hypnotherapy on the Severity of Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Children With Autism

Status
Completed
Phase
N/A
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
40 (actual)
Sponsor
The University of Queensland · Academic / Other
Sex
All
Age
5 Years – 10 Years
Healthy volunteers
Not accepted

Summary

CLINICAL ISSUE: Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are four times more likely to suffer with functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) than their neurotypical peers. The presence of FGIDs are linked to increased undesirable behaviour and ASD severity. Current behavioural approaches for ASD therapy do not alleviate the high comorbidity of FGIDs within this population. BACKGROUND: Dysfunction of the microbiome-gut-brain (MGB) axis has been implicated in pathogenesis of both ASD and FGIDs. Probiotics and prebiotics can modulate the gut microbiome and research has shown efficacy at improving gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms in children with ASD and neurotypical (NT) children with FGIDs. Gut-directed hypnotherapy (GDH) has shown utility in treating FGIDs in NT children and adults but has not yet been trialed in children with ASD. Targeting therapies to address the dysfunction of the bidirectional MGB axis will likely be more effective than either brain/behavioural or gut-based therapy alone. HYPOTHESIS: A synbiotic (prebiotic + probiotic mixture) with combined GDH will be more effective than a synbiotic alone at reducing GI symptoms in children with ASD aged 5.00 to 10.99 years over a 12-week period.

Conditions

Interventions

TypeNameDescription
COMBINATION_PRODUCTSynbioticPrebiotic + Probiotic
BEHAVIORALGut-directed HypnotherapyPsychotherapy sessions

Timeline

Start date
2021-12-01
Primary completion
2022-04-01
Completion
2022-06-30
First posted
2020-11-20
Last updated
2023-09-06

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Australia

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT04639141. Inclusion in this directory is not an endorsement.