Gut microbesApr 22, 2020

Changes in gut bacteria are linked to unusual metabolism in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Longevity & Aging Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated Apr 1, 2026

Abstract

The study analyzed gut microbiota in 143 children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) aged 2-13 years.

The gut microbiota diversity in the ASD group did not change significantly with age, unlike the typically developing (TD) group, which showed increased diversity.
A subset of 30 children with ASD experiencing chronic constipation (C-ASD) exhibited decreased gut microbiota diversity and specific species depletion.
Metagenomic analysis indicated dysregulation of metabolic activities in the C-ASD group that could relate to their gastrointestinal symptoms.
Differential metabolites identified through liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry were linked to neurotransmitter metabolic pathways, including serotonin and dopamine.
Altered levels of specific bacteria were associated with the differences in metabolite abundance.

Simplified

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a severe neurodevelopmental disorder. To enhance the understanding of the gut microbiota structure in ASD children at different ages as well as the relationship between gut microbiota and fecal metabolites, we first used the 16S rRNA sequencing to evaluate the gut microbial population in a cohort of 143 children aged 2-13 years old. We found that the α-diversity of ASD group showed no significant change with age, while the TD group showed increased α-diversity with age, which indicates that the compositional development of the gut microbiota in ASD varies at different ages in ways that are not consistent with TD group. Recent studies have shown that chronic constipation is one of the most commonly obvious gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms along with ASD core symptoms. To further investigate the potential interaction effects between ASD and GI symptoms, the 30 C-ASD and their aged-matched TD were picked out to perform metagenomics analysis. We observed that C-ASD group displayed decreased diversity, depletion of species of, andas well as dysregulation of associated metabolism activities, which may involve in the pathogenesis of C-ASD. Consistent with metagenomic analysis, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC/MS) revealed some of the differential metabolites between C-ASD and TD group were involved in the metabolic network of neurotransmitters including serotonin, dopamine, histidine, and GABA. Furthermore, we found these differences in metabolites were associated with altered abundance of specific bacteria. The study suggested possible future modalities for ASD intervention through targeting the specific bacteria associated with neurotransmitter metabolism. Sutterella, Prevotella Bacteroides

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Changes in gut bacteria are linked to unusual metabolism in Autism Spectrum Disorder

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