Examining the Potential of Quercetin in Autistic Adults
The "Autistic" portal reports on a recently published clinical study examining the effectiveness and safety of the nutritional supplement Quercetin in autistic adults. The study, published in Hum Psychopharmacol in July 2026, aimed to investigate whether the supplement has a beneficial effect on various aspects related to Autism.
The study was conducted using a controlled and randomized method, meaning participants were randomly assigned to receive either quercetin or a placebo (dummy substance) for 60 days. It was "triple-blind," meaning neither the participants, nor the researchers, nor the evaluators knew who received the active supplement and who received the placebo, in order to prevent bias in the results. The measures examined included, among others, the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) and quality of life measures, as defined by the World Health Organization (WHOQOL), in the areas of physical and environmental health.
During the study, data was collected at baseline, after 30 days, and after 60 days. The researchers report that the quercetin group showed a significant decrease in the Social Responsiveness Scale score over time, indicating a potential improvement in social responsiveness within the group. In contrast, the placebo group showed no significant change in this measure. It is important to note that when examining the statistical differences between the two groups, the change in social responsiveness was not statistically significant.
Regarding quality of life, in the area of physical health, an improvement was observed in the quercetin group at the unadjusted level, but this finding did not remain significant after statistical adjustments. In the area of environmental health, a borderline difference was found in favor of the quercetin group.
In conclusion, the study suggests that the quercetin supplement may have potential benefits in specific aspects of social quality of life and social responsiveness among participants on the Autistic Spectrum. However, the researchers emphasize that these are preliminary findings. To verify the clinical effectiveness of the supplement, larger and well-designed studies are needed. One of the limiting aspects of this study is the relatively small number of participants, which requires caution in interpreting the results and indicates the need for expanded testing.