Characterization of Intestinal Microbiota and Probiotics Treatment in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders in China.

Manman Niu,Xiaoqing Gao,Chunrong Guan,Guiqin Duan,Ying Han,Shaobin Zhang,Jishui Zhang,Pingri Yang,Haifeng Li,Fang Wen,Fangfang Yuan,Qinrui Li,Weili Dang,Huiling Tian,Wencong Ruan

doi:10.3389/fneur.2019.01084

Abstract

Background: Most previous studies have found that human intestinal microbiota affect the symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), especially gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, but regarding this, there is limited data of non-western ethnicity. Probiotics can reconstitute the host intestinal microbiota and strengthen gastrointestinal function, however, clinical data proving the effect of probiotics treatment on ASD is lacking.Methods: This study explored the significant differences between ASD and neurotypical (NT), and the improvement of applied behavior analysis (ABA) training in combination with probiotics, vs. ABA training only.Results: We found significant differences between the ASD group and the NT group in the evenness of the intestinal microbiota and the relative abundance of the bacterial phyla and genus. At the phylum level, relative abundance of Bacteroidetes in the ASD group was significantly lower than in the NT group. At the genus level, the relative abundance of Bacteroides, Bifidobacterium, Ruminococcus, Roseburia, and Blautia in the ASD group was significantly lower than that in the NT group. After a 4-week ABA training program in combination with probiotics treatment, the ATEC and GI scores decreased more than the control group with ABA training only.Conclusion: Our findings suggest that intestinal microbiota is different between the NT children and the ASD children with or without GI problems. In combination with ABA training, probiotics treatment can bring more benefit to ASD children. Clinical trials with a more rigorous design and larger sample size are indispensable for further validation.

Highlights

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) refers to a group of neurodevelopmental disorders with multiple, heterogenous causes
Our results indicate that the ASD children in China had a higher intestinal microbiota abundance but a lower evenness (Figure 1)
Our results indicate that probiotics treatment, when applied in combination with applied behavior analysis (ABA) training, can alleviate the symptoms in both ASD children with and without gastrointestinal symptoms (GI) illness

Summary

Introduction

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) refers to a group of neurodevelopmental disorders with multiple, heterogenous causes. ASD is characterized by stereotyped behavior, language, and social interaction disorders. The most common non-neurological indications in children with ASD are gastrointestinal symptoms (GI) such as constipation and diarrhea [8]. Many studies have shown that the intestinal microbiota of autistic children with GI is different from that of neurotypical (NT) children [9,10,11,12], and the GI in the children with ASD corrects with their autistic manifestations [13]. Most previous studies have found that human intestinal microbiota affect the symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), especially gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, but regarding this, there is limited data of non-western ethnicity. Probiotics can reconstitute the host intestinal microbiota and strengthen gastrointestinal function, clinical data proving the effect of probiotics treatment on ASD is lacking

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion