Cited by 77Gut microbiota and healthAutism Spectrum Disorder ResearchGastrointestinal motility and disorders

Systematic Review: Autism Spectrum Disorder and the Gut Microbiota

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Korteniemi, Jenni, Karlsson, Linnea, Aatsinki, Anna·2023·Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a varying group of disorders characterized by deficiency in social interaction and restrictive patterns of behavior and interests. While there are several studies focusing on the neuropsychiatric pathogenesis of ASD, its etiology remains unclear. The role of gut-brain-axis in ASD has been studied increasingly and a correlation between symptoms and the composition of gut microbiota has been documented in various works. Despite this, the significance of individual microbes and their function is still widely unknown. This work aims to elucidate the current knowledge of the interrelations between ASD and the gut microbiota in children based on scientific evidence. METHODS: This is a systematic review done by a literature search focusing on the main findings concerning the gut microbiota composition, interventions targeting the gut microbiota, and possible mechanisms explaining the results in children aged between 2 and 18 years of age. RESULTS: Most studies in this review found significant differences between microbial communities, while there was notable variation in results regarding diversity indices or taxonomic level abundance. The most consistent results regarding taxa differences in ASD children's gut microbiota were higher levels of Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Sutterella compared to controls. CONCLUSION: These results show that the gut microbiota of children with ASD is altered compared to one of neurotypically developed children. More research is needed to discover whether some of these features could be used as potential biomarkers for ASD and how the gut microbiota could be targeted in therapeutical interventions.

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  • The results of various analyses indicate that the quantity of Oscillospira may be elevated or diminished in the guts of patients diagnosed with ASD.

    “Furthermore, the results of various analyses indicate that the quantity of Oscillospira may be elevated or diminished in the guts of patients diagnosed with ASD [52,101,111,112].”

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Research works printed but not linked: 4

  1. Zhang M, Ma W, Zhang J, He Y, Wang J. Analysis of gut microbiota profiles and microbe-disease associations in chil- dren with autism spectrum disorders in China. Sci Rep. 2018; 8(1):13981. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-32,219-2 · DOI
  2. Liu S, Li E, Sun Z, et al. Altered gut microbiota and short chain fatty acids in Chinese children with autism spectrum disorder. Sci Rep. 2019;9(1):287. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-36,430-z · DOI
  3. Wan Y, Zuo T, Xu Z, et al. Underdevelopment of the gut micro- biota and bacteria species as non-invasive markers of predic- tion in children with autism spectrum disorder. Gut. 2022; 71(5):910-918. doi:10.1136/gutjnl-2020-324,015 · DOI
  4. West KA, Yin X, Rutherford EM, et al. Multi-angle meta- analysis of the gut microbiome in autism spectrum disorder: a step toward understanding patient subgroups. Sci Rep. 2022; 12(1):17034. doi:10.1038/s41598-022-21,327-9 · DOI

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Authors
Korteniemi, J., Karlsson, L., & Aatsinki, A.
Affiliations
  • University of Turku (FI)
  • FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study, Turku Brain and Mind Center, Department of Clinical Medicine, Psychiatry University of Turku Turku Finland
Corresponding author
Korteniemi, Jenni
Venue
Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2023-07-03
Volume
148
Issue
3
Pages
242-254
ISSN
  • 0001-690X (ISSN-L)
  • 1600-0447
OpenAlex
W4382918636
Cited by
77
References
66
Citations by year
2026: 29 · 2025: 28 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 5
FWCI
2.14
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • UTUPub (University of Turku) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Gastroenterology › Gastrointestinal motility and disorders
Keywords
autism spectrum disorder, gut microbiota, gut-brain axis, dysbiosis, Proteobacteria, actinobacteria, Sutterella, children, biomarkers, microbiota-targeted interventions, microbial diversity
MeSH terms
Autism Spectrum Disorder, Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Adolescent, Child, Child, Preschool, Humans, Biomarkers

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