Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental syndrome with a complicated etiology and could be responsible for disrupted gastrointestinal tract microbiota. The aim of this work was to study intestinal samples from an autistic animal model (BTBR mouse strain) to better describe gastrointestinal alterations. We performed a morphological and biological evaluation of small intestine samples. In terms of morphology, we studied the goblet cells, cells of intestinal mucosal responsible for the production and maintenance of the protective mucous blanket. Alterations in their secretion may indicate an altered rate of mucus synthesis and this is one of the possible causes of gastrointestinal problems. In terms of biological evaluation, impaired regulation of glucose homeostasis regulated by sodium-glucose transporters has been suggested as an important component of obesity and associated comorbidities; therefore, this study analyzed the expression of sodium/glucose transporter-1 and -3 in BTBR mice to better define their role. We demonstrated that, in BTBR mice as compared to C57BL/6J (B6) strain animals: (1) The goblet cells had different protein content in their vesicles and apparently a larger number of Golgi cisternae; (2) the expression and level of sodium/glucose transporters were higher. These findings could suggest new possible targets in autism spectrum disorder to maintain mucus barrier function.
Highlights
Introduction published maps and institutional affilAutism spectrum disorder (ASD) is defined as a group of heterogenous neurodevelopmental conditions [1,2]
This is only a baseline evaluation, but it could be considered a starting point for other in-depth analysis in order to identify a possible correspondence between a clinical variation—body weight—and morphology and immunohistochemistry patterns that characterize both the morphology of the villi and the content and number of goblet cells (GC) in ASD models
Our findings demonstrated that the neutral secretion of GCs changed mice mice compared to CTR
Summary
Introduction published maps and institutional affilAutism spectrum disorder (ASD) is defined as a group of heterogenous neurodevelopmental conditions [1,2]. ASD diagnoses have been increased over a twenty-year period (1998–2018), reaching an overall 787% in its recorded incidence [3]. This disorder is becoming one of the most prevalent neurodevelopmental syndromes with a male–female ratio of 2.5:1 [4,5]. Feeding problems are especially an issue for autistic children They are very selective about types of food, texture and colour [12]; they choose energy-dense food rejecting fruits, vegetables and whole grains [6,13,14]. This leads to a greater probability of becoming overweight or even obese, conditions that can cause GI disorders, as proposed by Emerenziani et al [15]
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