Department of Microbiology. High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.
Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.
Sci Rep. 2024 Oct 17;14(1):24321. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-72962-3.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social deficits. Accumulated evidence has shown a link between alterations in the composition of gut microbiota and both neurobehavioural and gastrointestinal symptoms in children with ASD which are related to the genera Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium. These genera have been recently categorized as "psychobiotics". Moreover, this study aimed to compare the relative abundance of psychobiotics (L. plantarum, L. reuteri, and B. longum) to the total gut microbiome in typically developing (TD) children and those with ASD in order to correlate the distribution of psychobiotic with the severity and sensory impairments in autism. The ASD children were assessed using the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), while sensory impairments were evaluated using the Short Sensory Profile (SSP). Furthermore, the gut microbiome was analyzed using the quantitative real-time PCR. The study revealed a statistically significant increase in the relative abundance of L. reuteri and L. plantarum in the TD group in comparison to ASD children. Regarding the SSP total score of ASD children, a statistically significant negative correlation was found between both Lactobacillus and L. plantarum with the under-responsive subscale. For the Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC) score, B. longum and Lactobacillus showed a significant positive correlation with Health/Physical/Behaviour.
自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）是一种复杂的神经发育障碍，其特征是社交缺陷。越来越多的证据表明，自闭症儿童的肠道微生物群落组成的改变与神经行为和胃肠道症状之间存在联系，这些症状与乳杆菌属和双歧杆菌属有关。这些属最近被归类为“精神益生菌”。此外，本研究旨在比较精神益生菌（L. plantarum、L. reuteri 和 B. longum）与典型发育（TD）儿童和 ASD 儿童肠道微生物组的相对丰度，以将精神益生菌的分布与自闭症的严重程度和感官障碍相关联。使用儿童自闭症评定量表（CARS）评估 ASD 儿童，使用短感觉量表（SSP）评估感官障碍。此外，使用定量实时 PCR 分析肠道微生物组。研究表明，与 ASD 儿童相比，TD 组中 L. reuteri 和 L. plantarum 的相对丰度有统计学意义的增加。关于 ASD 儿童的 SSP 总分，发现双歧杆菌和 L. plantarum 与反应不足亚量表之间存在统计学显著的负相关。对于自闭症治疗评估检查表（ATEC）评分，B. longum 和乳杆菌属与健康/身体/行为呈显著正相关。
