Cited by 110Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens researchGut microbiota and healthGastrointestinal motility and disorders

Detection of Clostridium perfringens toxin genes in the gut microbiota of autistic children

Finegold, Sydney M., Summanen, Paula H., Downes, Julia, Corbett, Karen, Komoriya, Tomoe·2017·Anaerobe

Abstract

We studied stool specimens from 33 autistic children aged 2-9 years with gastrointestinal (GI) abnormalities and 13 control children without autism and without GI symptoms. We performed quantitative comparison of all Clostridium species and Clostridium perfringens strains from the fecal microbiota by conventional, selective anaerobic culture methods. We isolated C. perfringens strains and performed PCR analysis for the main C. perfringens toxin genes, alpha, beta, beta2, epsilon, iota and C. perfringens enterotoxin gene. Our results indicate that autistic subjects with gastrointestinal disease harbor statistically significantly (p = 0.031) higher counts of C. perfringens in their gut compared to control children. Autistic subjects also harbor statistically significantly (p = 0.015) higher counts of beta2-toxin gene-producing C. perfringens in their gut compared to control children, and the incidence of beta2-toxin gene-producing C. perfringens is significantly higher in autistic subjects compared to control children (p = 0.014). Alpha toxin gene was detected in all C. perfringens strains studied. C. perfringens enterotoxin gene was detected from three autistic and one control subject. Beta, epsilon, and iota toxin genes were not detected from autistic or control subjects.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.anaerobe.2017.02.008

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26 of 26 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • Clostridium perfringens at species level had evidence for increased absolute and relative abundance in children with ASD versus typically developing children.

    “Clostridium perfringens at a species level had evidence for increased absolute and relative abundance in children with ASD versus typically developing children [34, 38, 44].”
  • There are a number of studies that demonstrate a difference in Clostridia levels in children with ASD, which is a target for vancomycin.

    “There are a number of studies, however, that demonstrate a difference in Clostridia levels in children with ASD that, interestingly, is a target for vancomycin 79–82.”

    From Gastrointestinal Issues and Autism Spectrum Disorder (2020) · cites this paper as [81]

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Authors
Finegold, S. M., Summanen, P. H., Downes, J., Corbett, K., & Komoriya, T.
Affiliations
  • University of California, Los Angeles (US)
  • VA West Los Angeles Medical Center (US)
  • Nihon University (JP)
Corresponding author
Finegold, Sydney M.
Venue
Anaerobe
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2017-06
Volume
45
Pages
133-137
ISSN
1075-9964 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2587897382
Cited by
110
References
26
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 3
FWCI
9.10
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Anaerobe (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
Autism Research Institute
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens research
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Gastroenterology › Gastrointestinal motility and disorders
Keywords
Clostridium perfringens, autism spectrum disorder, gut microbiota, toxin genes, beta2 toxin, alpha-toxin, enterotoxin, gastrointestinal anomalies, fecal microbiota, children
MeSH terms
Autistic Disorder, Bacterial Toxins, Bacteriological Techniques, Child, Child, Preschool, Clostridium perfringens, Feces, Female, Humans, Male, Polymerase Chain Reaction, Gastrointestinal Tract

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