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   Research linking autism symptoms to gut microbes called 'groundbreaking'   
      
   Date:   
   December 19, 2013   
      
   Source:   
   University of Colorado at Boulder   
      
   Summary:   
   A new study showing that feeding mice a beneficial type of bacteria can   
   ameliorate autism-like symptoms is "groundbreaking," according to a commentary   
   piece about the research.   
      
   A new study showing that feeding mice a beneficial type of bacteria can   
   ameliorate autism-like symptoms is "groundbreaking," according to University   
   of Colorado Boulder Professor Rob Knight, who co-authored a commentary piece   
   about the research appearing    
   in the current issue of the journal Cell.   
      
      
   The autism study, published today in the same issue of Cell, strengthens the   
   recent scientific understanding that the microbes that live in your gut may   
   affect what goes on in your brain. It is also the first to show that a   
   specific probiotic may be    
   capable of reversing autism-like behaviors in mice.   
   "The broader potential of this research is obviously an analogous probiotic   
   that could treat subsets of individuals with autism spectrum disorder," wrote   
   the commentary authors, who also included CU-Boulder Research Associate Dorota   
   Porazinska and    
   doctoral student Sophie Weiss.   
      
   The study underscores the importance of the work being undertaken by the newly   
   formed Autism Microbiome Consortium, which includes Knight as well as   
   commentary co-authors Jack Gilbert of the University of Chicago and Rosa   
   Krajmalnik-Brown of Arizona    
   State University. The interdisciplinary consortium -- which taps experts in a   
   range of disciplines from psychology to epidemiology -- is investigating the   
   autism-gut microbiome link.   
      
   For the new Cell study, led by Elaine Hsiao of the California Institute of   
   Technology, the researchers used a technique called maternal immune activation   
   in pregnant mice to induce autism-like behavior and neurology in their   
   offspring. The researchers    
   found that the gut microbial community of the offspring differed markedly   
   compared with a control group of mice. When the mice with autism-like symptoms   
   were fed Bacteriodes fragilis, a microbe known to bolster the immune system,   
   the aberrant behaviors    
   were reduced.   
      
   Scientific evidence is mounting that the trillions of microbes that call the   
   human body home can influence our gut-linked health, affecting our risk of   
   obesity, diabetes and colon cancer, for example. But more recently,   
   researchers are discovering that    
   gut microbes also may affect neurology -- possibly impacting a person's   
   cognition, emotions and mental health, said Knight, also a Howard Hughes   
   Medical Institute Early Career Scientist and an investigator at CU-Boulder's   
   BioFrontiers Institute.   
      
   The Autism Microbiome Consortium hopes to broaden this understanding by   
   further studying the microbial community of autistic people, who tend to   
   suffer from more gastrointestinal problems than the general public.   
      
   People with autism spectrum disorder who would like to have their gut microbes   
   sequenced can do so now through the American Gut Project, a crowdfunded   
   research effort led by Knight.   
      
   The consortium also includes Catherine Lozupone and Kimberly Johnson of   
   CU-Boulder, James Adams of Arizona State University, Mady Hornig of Columbia   
   University, Sarkis Mazmanian of the California Institute of Technology, John   
   Alverdy of the University of    
   Chicago and Janet Jansson of Lawrence Berkeley Lab.   
      
   Story Source:   
   The above story is based on materials provided by University of Colorado at   
   Boulder. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.   
      
   Journal Reference:   
   Jack A. Gilbert, Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown, Dorota L. Porazinska, Sophie J. Weiss,   
   Rob Knight. Toward Effective Probiotics for Autism and Other Neu   
   odevelopmental Disorders. Cell, 2013; 155 (7): 1446 DOI: 10.1016   
   j.cell.2013.11.035   
      
      
   Cite This Page:   
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   University of Colorado at Boulder. "Research linking autism symptoms to gut   
   microbes called 'groundbreaking'." ScienceDaily.    
   ScienceDaily, 19 December 2013.    
      
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