A recent study conducted in China suggests that children with autism have a unique set of gut micro bacteria which are unrelated to their diet. It also says that they lack a few bacteria that are related to neurotransmitter activity.
The study recently published in the peer-reviewed journal Gut concluded that five types of bacteria that are usually not found in the guts of children existed in the guts of children on the autism spectrum. They are now looking into whether this finding can be used to treat any of the symptoms of the condition as these could be considered as predictive markers for autism
The authors of the study informed that there is a strong relationship between gut micro bacteria and the functioning of the central nervous system, known as the gut-brain axis. The team carried out metagenomic sequencing in fecal samples of 146 Chinese children, half of whom had autism and the other half didn’t.
In their conclusion, the authors stated their findings as “We identified novel bacterial markers for prediction of ASD and demonstrated persistent underdevelopment of the gut microbiota in children with ASD which lagged behind their respective age-matched peers.”
