Changes in the Gut Microbiota of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Study information

Needs review

study design

case-control

Citation

PMID PubMed identifier for scientific articles.

32830918

DOI Digital object identifier for electronic documents.

10.1002/aur.2358

URI

Authors

Zou R, Xu F, Wang Y, Duan M, Guo M, Zhang Q, Zhao H, Zheng H

Journal

Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research

Year

2020

Keywords:

Akkermansia, Bacteroides, Prevotella, autism spectrum disorders, children, gut microbiota

Alterations in the gut microbiota may influence gastrointestinal (GI) dysbiosis frequently reported in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this study, we sequenced the bacterial 16S rRNA gene to evaluate changes in fecal microbiota between 48 children with ASD and 48 healthy children in China. At the phylum level, the number of Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Verrucomicrobia decreased in children with ASD, while the Bacteroidetes/Firmicutes was significantly higher in autistic children due to enrichment of Bacteroidetes. At the genus level, the amount of Bacteroides, Prevotella, Lachnospiracea_incertae_sedis, and Megamonas increased, while Clostridium XlVa, Eisenbergiella, Clostridium IV, Flavonifractor, Escherichia/Shigella, Haemophilus, Akkermansia, and Dialister decreased in children with ASD relative to the controls. Significant increase was observed in the number of species synthesizing branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), like Bacteroides vulgatus and Prevotella copri, while the numbers of Bacteroides fragilis and Akkermansia muciniphila decreased in children with ASD compared to the controls. Most importantly, the highest levels of pathogenic bacteria were different for each child with ASD in this cohort. We found that only one functional module, cellular antigens, was enriched in children with ASD, and other pathways like lysine degradation and tryptophan metabolism were significantly decreased in children with ASD. These findings provide further evidence of altered gut microbiota in Chinese ASD children and may contribute to the treatment of patients with ASD. LAY SUMMARY: This study characterized the gut bacteria composition of 48 children with ASD and 48 neurotypical children in China. The metabolic disruptions caused by altered gut microbiota may contribute significantly to the neurological pathophysiology of ASD, including significant increases in the number of species synthesizing BCAAs, and decreases in the number of probiotic species. These findings suggest that a gut microbiome-associated therapeutic intervention may provide a novel strategy for treating GI symptoms frequently seen in individuals with ASD. Autism Res 2020, 13: 1614-1625. © 2020 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Experiment 1

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Curated date: 2024/09/19

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Subjects

Location of subjects: China

Host species Species from which microbiome was sampled. Contact us to have more species added.: Homo sapiens

Body site Anatomical site where microbial samples were extracted from according to the Uber Anatomy Ontology: Feces Cow dung,Cow pat,Droppings,Dung,Excrement,Excreta,Faeces,Fecal material,Fecal matter,Fewmet,Frass,Guano,Matières fécales@fr,Merde@fr,Ordure,Partie de la merde@fr,Piece of shit,Porción de mierda@es,Portion of dung,Portion of excrement,Portion of faeces,Portion of fecal material,Portion of fecal matter,Portion of feces,Portion of guano,Portion of scat,Portionem cacas,Scat,Spoor,Spraint,Stool,Teil der fäkalien@de,Feces,feces

Condition The experimental condition / phenotype studied according to the Experimental Factor Ontology: Autism spectrum disorder atypical autism,autism spectrum disease,autism spectrum disorder,Autism Spectrum Disorders,autistic spectrum disorder,CHILD DEVELOPMENT DIS PERVASIVE,Child Development Disorders, Pervasive,Development Disorder, Pervasive,Development Disorders, Pervasive,Disorder, Autism Spectrum,Disorder, Pervasive Development,Disorders, Autism Spectrum,Disorders, Pervasive Development,PDD,PERVASIVE CHILD DEVELOPMENT DIS,Pervasive Child Development Disorders,Pervasive Development Disorder,Pervasive Development Disorders,pervasive developmental disorder - not otherwise specified,pervasive developmental disorders,Spectrum Disorder, Autism,Spectrum Disorders, Autism,Autism spectrum disorder

Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies: Healthy controls

Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies: Autistic

Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group: Diagnosis of autistic disorder defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Fourth Edition (DSM IV - TR) and confirmed using the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R)

Group 0 sample size Number of subjects in the control (unexposed) group: 48

Group 1 sample size Number of subjects in the case (exposed) group: 48

Antibiotics exclusion Number of days without antibiotics usage (if applicable) and other antibiotics-related criteria used to exclude participants (if any): Use of probiotics or antibiotics prior to fecal sample collection

Lab analysis

Sequencing type: 16S

16S variable region One or more hypervariable region(s) of the bacterial 16S gene: V3-V4

Sequencing platform Manufacturer and experimental platform used for quantifying microbial abundance: Illumina

Statistical Analysis

Data transformation Data transformation applied to microbial abundance measurements prior to differential abundance testing (if any).: raw counts

Statistical test: T-Test

Significance threshold p-value or FDR threshold used for differential abundance testing (if any): 0.05

MHT correction Have statistical tests be corrected for multiple hypothesis testing (MHT)?: No

Alpha Diversity

Shannon Estimator of species richness and species evenness: more weight on species richness: increased

Chao1 Abundance-based estimator of species richness: increased

Richness Number of species: increased

Signature 1

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Source: Figure 3, Table 3, Table 4

Description: Species, Families and Genera with significantly different abundances between ASD and control groups

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in Autistic

NCBI	Quality Control	Links
Bacteroidaceae
Bacteroides
Lachnospira eligens
Megamonas
Phocaeicola coprocola
Phocaeicola vulgatus
Prevotella
Prevotellaceae
Roseburia faecis
Segatella copri
Lachnospiraceae incertae sedis

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Signature 2

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Source: Figure 3, Table 3, Table 4

Description: Species, Families and Genera with significantly different abundances between ASD and control groups

Abundance in Group 1: decreased abundance in Autistic

NCBI	Quality Control	Links
Akkermansia muciniphila
Bacteroides fragilis
Blautia coccoides
Dialister invisus
Eisenbergiella
Enterobacteriaceae
Escherichia coli
Flavonifractor plautii
Haemophilus parainfluenzae
Oscillospiraceae
Pasteurellaceae
Verrucomicrobiaceae
[Clostridium] leptum
Flavonifractor
Escherichia/Shigella sp.
Haemophilus
Akkermansia
Dialister

Revision editor(s): AlishaM

Experiment 2

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Differences from previous experiment shown

Subjects

Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group: Diagnosis of autistic disorder defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Fourth Edition (DSM IV-TR) and confirmed using the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R)

Lab analysis

Statistical Analysis

Data transformation Data transformation applied to microbial abundance measurements prior to differential abundance testing (if any).: relative abundances