Microbiota and gut-brain axis dysfunction in autism spectrum disorder: Evidence for functional gastrointestinal disorders

According to this 2020 paper, research studies are looking into the composition of gut microbiota as a possible factor in the pathogenesis of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) since functional gastrointestinal disorders are fairly prevalent issues and are linked with ASD. The aim of this narrative review was to examine the microbial profile of individuals with and without ASD and find associations between microbial profiles with functional gastrointestinal disorder comorbidity, and ASD pathogenesis. The results demonstrated that prevalence and risk of functional gastrointestinal disorders are related to severity of ASD (incidence was significantly higher in children with autism). Also, there were differences in bacterial and fungal diversity between the guts of ASD and non-autistic children. It should be noted that there are limitations with these studies analyzing gut microbiota – for example a varied range of methodologies were employed. Furthermore, covariate analysis revealed that the results were influenced by numerous factors such as demographics, diet, disease severity, GI comorbidity and allergies. [NPID: gut microbiota, gut microbiome, gastrointestinal, gut disorders, functional gastrointestinal disorders, gut-brain axis, ASD, autism, autism spectrum disorder]

Year: 2020

Reference: Lasheras, I., Seral, P., Latorre, E., Barroso, E., Gracia-García, P., & Santabárbara, J. (2020). Microbiota and gut-brain axis dysfunction in autism spectrum disorder: Evidence for functional gastrointestinal disorders. Asian journal of psychiatry, 47, 101874. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2019.101874

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