The effect of intestinal microbiome on autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

In recent years the gut microbiome has been identified as a major regulator of many organism systems normal function. There is also data showing that gut microbiome is involved in brain development, as it affects synaptogenesis, development of dopamine system and blood-brain barrier permeability. On the other hand, the intestinal microbiome presents significant changes between children with autism and normal children and by-products of gut microbiota seem to be correlated with certain aspects of autistic phenotype, although findings tend to be controversial among different studies. Modification of intestinal microbiome could alleviate some symptoms of autism, but controlled clinical trials are not available, yet.