Gastrointestinal flora and gastrointestinal status in children with autism -- comparisons to typical children and correlation with autism severity
By J. Adams, L. J. Johansen, L. D. Powell, D. Quig, R. A. Rubin. BMC Gastroenterology, 2011
1,008 citations recorded by the source corpus.
BackgroundChildren with autism have often been reported to have gastrointestinal problems that are more frequent and more severe than in children from the general population.MethodsGastrointestinal flora and gastrointestinal status were assessed from stool samples of 58 children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and 39 healthy typical children of similar ages. Stool testing included bacterial and yeast culture tests, lysozyme, lactoferrin, secretory IgA, elastase, digestion markers, short chain fatty acids (SCFA's), pH, and blood presence. Gastrointestinal symptoms were assessed with a modified six-item GI Severity Index (6-GSI) questionnaire, and autistic symptoms were assessed with the Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC).ResultsGastrointestinal symptoms (assessed by the 6-GSI) were strongly correlated with the severity of autism (assessed by the ATEC), (r = 0.59, p < 0.001). Children with 6-GSI scores above 3 had much higher ATEC Total scores than those with 6-GSI-scores of 3 or lower (81.5 +/- 28 vs. 49.0 +/- 21, p = 0.00002).Children with autism had much lower levels of total short chain fatty acids (-27%, p = 0.00002), including lower levels of acetate, proprionate, and valerate; this difference was greater in the children with autism taking probiotics, but also significant in those not taking probiotics. Children with autism had lower levels of species of Bifidobacter (-43%, p = 0.002) and higher levels of species of Lactobacillus (+100%, p = 0.00002), but similar levels of other bacteria and yeast using standard culture growth-based techniques. Lysozyme was somewhat lower in children with autism (-27%, p = 0.04), possibly associated with probiotic usage. Other markers of digestive function were similar in both groups.ConclusionsThe strong correlation of gastrointestinal symptoms with autism severity indicates that children with more severe autism are likely to have more severe gastrointestinal symptoms and vice versa. It is possible that autism symptoms are exacerbated or even partially due to the underlying gastrointestinal problems. The low level of SCFA's was partly associated with increased probiotic use, and probably partly due to either lower production (less sacchrolytic fermentation by beneficial bacteria and/or lower intake of soluble fiber) and/or greater absorption into the body (due to longer transit time and/or increased gut permeability).
Subfields: Cognitive Neuroscience, Gastroenterology, Psychiatry and Mental health
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/e50205d60dba9994fd33adb642c3118019e3ef36
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Citations in the corpus
- Microbiota in health and diseases (2022, background): “demonstrated that symptoms of GI discomfort were correlated with severity of autism in children.(265) A small pilot scale study conducted by Kang et al.”
- The Role of Short-Chain Fatty Acids From Gut Microbiota in Gut-Brain Communication (2020, background): “Although Sharon and coworkers did not evaluate the alteration in SCFAs, children with ASD have been previously reported to have both lower (144) and higher (33) fecal SCFA levels than controls.”
- Fecal Microbiota and Metabolome of Children with Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (2013, background): “The composition of lactic acid bacteria (Enterococcus, Lactobacillus and Streptococcus genera) differed between AD and HC children [3,38].”
- New evidences on the altered gut microbiota in autism spectrum disorders (2017, background): “The evidence that the taxa belonging to the Clostridium cluster XVIII and the putative proinflammatory Escherichia/Shigella [41, 42] positively correlated with the constipation status of the subjects as well as their enrichment in constipated autistic subjects supports the hypothesis that GI problem”
- Microbiota Transfer Therapy alters gut ecosystem and improves gastrointestinal and autism symptoms: an open-label study (2017, background): “underrepresented in children with ASD [7, 21, 66], also observed in this study at baseline (two-tailed MannWhitney U test p < 0.”
- Impacts of Gut Bacteria on Human Health and Diseases (2015, background): “Autism has been thought to be linked to gastrointestinal symptoms, such as diarrhea, combined with genetic predisposition and environmental factors [116].”
- Prebiotics: Definition, Types, Sources, Mechanisms, and Clinical Applications (2019, background): “For example, the amount of SCFAs in children with autism is lower than healthy ones [163,165].”
- Reduced Incidence of Prevotella and Other Fermenters in Intestinal Microflora of Autistic Children (2013, background): “A large fraction of autistic children suffer from gastrointestinal (GI) problems, and a strong positive correlation was observed between GI problems and ASD severity [4].”
- The Human Gut Microbiome – A Potential Controller of Wellness and Disease (2018, background): “, Bacteroidetes, Lactobacillus, Desulfovibrio, and reduced Bifidobacteria were reported (Song et al., 2004; Adams et al., 2011), suggesting a possible link between dysbiosis and ASD.”
- The role of microbiome in central nervous system disorders (2013, positive): “The role of microbiom dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2013.12.015 Alcaligenaceae family, were correlated with autism (Adams et al., 2011; Kang et al., 2013; Wang et al., 2013; Williams et al., 2012).”