The Gut Microbiome in Autism: Study-Site Effects and Longitudinal Analysis of Behavior Change
Jennifer Fouquier, Nancy Moreno Huizar, Jody Donnelly, Cody Glickman, Dae‐Wook Kang, Juan Maldonado, Rachel A. Jones, Kimberly Ann Johnson, James B. Adams, Rosa Krajmalnik‐Brown, Catherine Lozupone
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a brain developmental disorder with varying behavioral symptom severity both across individuals and within individuals over time. There have been promising but also inconsistent literature results regarding how the gut microbiota (microbiome) may be involved. We found that the gut microbiome in individuals with ASD is affected by study-site location as well as gastrointestinal symptom severity. When we sampled some individuals with ASD at several different time points, we found that some behaviors, such as lethargy/social withdrawal and inappropriate speech, changed along with changes in the gut microbiota composition. This is the first study to relate severity of behavior symptoms to gut microbiome composition within individuals over time and suggests a dynamic relationship between ASD-associated symptoms and gut microbes. Longitudinal study designs as well as collaborative efforts across multiple centers are needed to fully characterize the relationship between ASD and gut microbes.