Background & Aims: Immune system abnormalities such as inflammation, increased autoimmunity and the skewed expression of soluble mediators, including cytokines have been observed in autistic patients. The present study aimed to compare the effects of vitamin D supplementation and/or aquatic exercise training on the serum level of inflammatory cytokines, including IL-1β and IL-1RA, and stereotypic behaviors (S.B) of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Materials & Methods: We recruited 40 children with ASD (aged 6-14) and divided them into the aquatic exercise (n = 10), vitamin D supplementary (n=10), aquatic +supplementation (n=10), and control (n=10) groups. Participants in the aquatic exercise group performed water-based activities for 10 weeks/2 sessions per week/60 min, while the participants of the supplementary group orally received 50,000 IU vitamin D3/ day, and the combined group received both exercise and supplementation, control group did not get any intervention. We evaluated the participants' serum levels of IL-1β, IL-1RA and S.B scores at baseline and the end of the treatment. Results: Results revealed that all three interventional approaches improved behavioral symptoms and IL-1β serum level; interestingly, only the combined intervention could significantly affect IL-1RA. Conclusions: We concluded that both aqua-based exercise and vitamin D supplements could lead to significant improvement in serum cytokine levels and behavioral problems in children with ASD.

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Background: Previous studies suggest that dysregulation of the immune system is involved in the pathophysiology of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The aim of the present study was to investigate some pre-and anti-inflammatory cytokines in the serum of children with autism and healthy children and to determine the correlation between these cytokines and hs-CRP. Materials and methods: Serum levels of IL-1β, IL-1RA, IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α cytokines and hs-CRP were assessed in twenty boys with autism spectrum disorder, aged 6 to 14 years, and 20 healthy controls. To analyze the data, multivariate analysis of variance analysis was used to compare the variables in the two groups, and Pearson correlation coefficient was utilized to assess the relationship between the levels of the cytokines and hs-CRP at the level of 0,05. SPSS software version 21 was used. Results: The results showed that the level of all cytokines as well as hs-CRP in the autistic group was significantly higher than normal children (p<0.001), but there was no statistically significant relationship between cytokines and hs-CRP levels in children with autism (p>0.05). Conclusion: The results suggest that abnormal immune responses such as increased levels of cytokines can be served as one of the biological markers of ASD.

Background and Purpose: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that occurs in early childhood. There are various methods for training and rehabilitation of this disorder. So, the aim of the present study was to compare the effect of aquatic exercise and vitamin D supplementation on stereotypic behaviors and body mass index (BMI) in boys with ASD. Method: The present experimental study was conducted using a pretest-posttest design with random groups. Thus, 40 children with ASD (mean aged 10.9±2.14 years) were selected according to convenience sampling and randomly assigned to four groups of aquatic exercise (n=10), vitamin D supplementation (n=10), aquatic+supplementary (n=10) and control (n=10). Height, weight and BMI of children were measured at the beginning and the end of intervention. Aquatic exercise and aquatic+supplementary experimental groups were received the 60-minute water training program for 10 weeks, 2 sessions per week. The Vitamin D supplements and aquatic-supplementary groups also received vitamin D tablets at a dose of 50,000 IU once daily for 10 weeks. Parents of autistic children completed the subscale of the Gilliam Autism Rating Scale (GARS-2) subscale before the experiment and after the end of the 10-week intervention. Finally, covariance analysis test was used for data analysis. Results: The results of data analysis showed that all three methods had a significant effect on the subscale of stereotypical behaviors and body mass index in autistic children (p<0.05), but the aquaticsupplementary method showed more efficacy than the other two methods. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that swimming can provide a stable sensory input and increase the level of physical activity of children with autism spectrum disorder without weight bearing. Also, given the significant deficiency of vitamin D in these children, vitamin D supplementation can improve body mass index and decrease the severity of symptoms.