Precision synbiotics increase gut microbiome diversity and improve gastrointestinal symptoms in a pilot open-label study for autism spectrum disorder

Joann Phan, Diana C. Calvo, Divya Nair, Suneer Jain, Thibaut Montagne, Summer Dietsche, Kelsey Blanchard, Shirin Treadwell, James Adams, Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

The efficacy of prebiotics and probiotics (synbiotics when combined) to improve symptoms associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has shown considerable inter-study variation, likely due to the complex, heterogeneous nature of the disorder and its associated behavioral, developmental, and gastrointestinal symptoms. Here, we present a precision synbiotic supplementation study in 296 children and adults diagnosed with ASD versus 123 age-matched neurotypical controls. One hundred seventy ASD participants completed the study. Baseline and post-synbiotic assessment of ASD and gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms and deep metagenomic sequencing were performed. Within the ASD cohort, there were significant differences in microbes between subpopulations based on the social responsiveness scale (SRS2) survey (Prevotella spp., Bacteroides, Fusicatenibacter, and others) and gluten and dairy-free diets (Bifidobacterium spp., Lactococcus, Streptococcus spp., and others). At the baseline, the ASD cohort maintained a lower taxonomic alpha diversity and significant differences in taxonomic composition, metabolic pathways, and gene families, with a greater proportion of potential pathogens, including Shigella, Klebsiella, and Clostridium, and lower proportions of beneficial microbes, including Faecalibacterium compared to controls. Following the 3-month synbiotic supplementation, the ASD cohort showed increased taxonomic alpha diversity, shifts in taxonomy and metabolic pathway potential, and improvements in some ASD-related symptoms, including a significant reduction in GI discomfort and overall improved language, comprehension, cognition, thinking, and speech. However, the open-label study design may include some placebo effects. In summary, we found that precision synbiotics modulated the gut microbiome and could be used as supplementation to improve gastrointestinal and ASD-related symptoms.

Original languageEnglish (US)
JournalmSystems
Volume9
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2024

Keywords

  • ASD
  • gut microbiome
  • metagenomics
  • open-label
  • prebiotics
  • precision
  • probiotics
  • supplements
  • synbiotics

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Microbiology
  • Physiology
  • Biochemistry
  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
  • Modeling and Simulation
  • Molecular Biology
  • Genetics
  • Computer Science Applications

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