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Distinct, less diverse intestinal microbiome observed among autistic patients
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Patients with autism who exhibit gastrointestinal symptoms have a less rich and diverse gut microbiome than neurotypical patients, according to recent results.
Researchers evaluated data collected from 20 neurotypical and 20 autistic children aged 3 to 16 years. Gastrointestinal symptoms were assessed via a modified GI Severity Index questionnaire and dietary pattern surveys. Pyrosequencing of the V2/V3 regions in bacterial 16S rDNA also was performed on participants’ fecal samples.
Neurotypical participants had greater bacterial richness than those with autism according to analysis via rarefaction curves and Chao1 estimator. Microbial diversity, as measured via the Shannon and Phylogenetic Diversity (PD) indices, was greater among neurotypical participants, though Shannon measurements did not achieve statistical significance (P<.05 for PD index analysis). Multivariate analysis indicated no significant associations between bacterial richness and diversity as indicted by these indices and demographic or dietary factors.
After adjustments for multiple testing, neurotypical patients had significantly more bacteria of the Prevotella and unclassified Veillonellaceae genera than autistic patients (adjusted P=.04), and trended toward a greater abundance of Coprococcus and unclassified Prevotellaceae (adjusted P=.06). Autistic status was significantly correlated with abundance of Prevotella, Coprococcus and unclassified Veillonellaceae via multivariate analysis (P<.05), with no association observed between abundance at the genus level and age, sex or dietary intake.
The largest difference between groups was observed in abundance of Prevotella. Sub-genus analysis indicated that 16 of 22 identified OTUs were present only in neurotypical patients, all of which were found to be of the Prevotella copri species.
“We demonstrated that autism is closely associated with a distinct gut microflora that can be characterized by reduced richness and diversity, as well as by altered composition and structure of [the] microbial community,” the researchers concluded. “Despite limited information on the direction of causality among autism, diet, GI problems and microbiome profiles, the findings from this study are steppingstones for better understanding of the crosstalk between gut microbiota and autism, which may provide potential targets for diagnosis or treatment of neurological as well as GI symptoms in autistic children.”
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