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Randomized Double-Blind Crossover Study for Evaluating a Probiotic Mixture on Gastrointestinal and Behavioral Symptoms of Autistic Children

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) represent a diagnostic challenge with a still partially uncertain etiology, in which genetic and environmental factors have now been assessed. Among the hypotheses underlying the involvement of biological and environmental factors, the gut–brain axis is of particular...

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Autores principales: Guidetti, Cristina, Salvini, Elena, Viri, Maurizio, Deidda, Francesca, Amoruso, Angela, Visciglia, Annalisa, Drago, Lorenzo, Calgaro, Matteo, Vitulo, Nicola, Pane, Marco, Caucino, Anna Claudia
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
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Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9504504/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36142909
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcm11185263
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author Guidetti, Cristina
Salvini, Elena
Viri, Maurizio
Deidda, Francesca
Amoruso, Angela
Visciglia, Annalisa
Drago, Lorenzo
Calgaro, Matteo
Vitulo, Nicola
Pane, Marco
Caucino, Anna Claudia
author_facet Guidetti, Cristina
Salvini, Elena
Viri, Maurizio
Deidda, Francesca
Amoruso, Angela
Visciglia, Annalisa
Drago, Lorenzo
Calgaro, Matteo
Vitulo, Nicola
Pane, Marco
Caucino, Anna Claudia
author_sort Guidetti, Cristina
collection PubMed
description Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) represent a diagnostic challenge with a still partially uncertain etiology, in which genetic and environmental factors have now been assessed. Among the hypotheses underlying the involvement of biological and environmental factors, the gut–brain axis is of particular interest in autism spectrum disorders. Several studies have highlighted the related incidence of particular gastrointestinal symptoms (GISs) in children suffering from ASDs. Probiotics have shown success in treating several gastrointestinal dysbiotic disorders; therefore, it is plausible to investigate whether they can alleviate behavioral symptoms as well. On these bases, a randomized double-blind crossover study with a placebo was conducted, evaluating the effects of a mixture of probiotics in a group of 61 subjects aged between 24 months and 16 years old with a diagnosis of ASD. Behavioral evaluation was performed through the administration of a questionnaire including a Parenting Stress Index (PSI) test and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale (VABS). The Psycho-Educational Profile and the Autism Spectrum Rating Scale (ASRS) were also evaluated. Microbial composition analyses of fecal samples of the two groups was also performed. The study showed significant improvements in GISs, communication skills, maladaptive behaviors, and perceived parental stress level after the administration of probiotics. Microbiome alpha diversity was comparable between treatment arms and no significant differences were found, although beta diversity results were significantly different in the treatment group between T0 and T1 time points. Streptococcus thermophilus, Bifidobacterium longum, Limosilactobacillus fermentum, and Ligilactobacillus salivarius species were identified as some of the most discriminant taxa positively associated with T1 samples. This preliminary study corroborates the relationship between intestinal microbiota and ASD recently described in the literature.
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spelling pubmed-95045042022-09-24 Randomized Double-Blind Crossover Study for Evaluating a Probiotic Mixture on Gastrointestinal and Behavioral Symptoms of Autistic Children Guidetti, Cristina Salvini, Elena Viri, Maurizio Deidda, Francesca Amoruso, Angela Visciglia, Annalisa Drago, Lorenzo Calgaro, Matteo Vitulo, Nicola Pane, Marco Caucino, Anna Claudia J Clin Med Article Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) represent a diagnostic challenge with a still partially uncertain etiology, in which genetic and environmental factors have now been assessed. Among the hypotheses underlying the involvement of biological and environmental factors, the gut–brain axis is of particular interest in autism spectrum disorders. Several studies have highlighted the related incidence of particular gastrointestinal symptoms (GISs) in children suffering from ASDs. Probiotics have shown success in treating several gastrointestinal dysbiotic disorders; therefore, it is plausible to investigate whether they can alleviate behavioral symptoms as well. On these bases, a randomized double-blind crossover study with a placebo was conducted, evaluating the effects of a mixture of probiotics in a group of 61 subjects aged between 24 months and 16 years old with a diagnosis of ASD. Behavioral evaluation was performed through the administration of a questionnaire including a Parenting Stress Index (PSI) test and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale (VABS). The Psycho-Educational Profile and the Autism Spectrum Rating Scale (ASRS) were also evaluated. Microbial composition analyses of fecal samples of the two groups was also performed. The study showed significant improvements in GISs, communication skills, maladaptive behaviors, and perceived parental stress level after the administration of probiotics. Microbiome alpha diversity was comparable between treatment arms and no significant differences were found, although beta diversity results were significantly different in the treatment group between T0 and T1 time points. Streptococcus thermophilus, Bifidobacterium longum, Limosilactobacillus fermentum, and Ligilactobacillus salivarius species were identified as some of the most discriminant taxa positively associated with T1 samples. This preliminary study corroborates the relationship between intestinal microbiota and ASD recently described in the literature. MDPI 2022-09-06 /pmc/articles/PMC9504504/ /pubmed/36142909 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcm11185263 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Guidetti, Cristina
Salvini, Elena
Viri, Maurizio
Deidda, Francesca
Amoruso, Angela
Visciglia, Annalisa
Drago, Lorenzo
Calgaro, Matteo
Vitulo, Nicola
Pane, Marco
Caucino, Anna Claudia
Randomized Double-Blind Crossover Study for Evaluating a Probiotic Mixture on Gastrointestinal and Behavioral Symptoms of Autistic Children
title Randomized Double-Blind Crossover Study for Evaluating a Probiotic Mixture on Gastrointestinal and Behavioral Symptoms of Autistic Children
title_full Randomized Double-Blind Crossover Study for Evaluating a Probiotic Mixture on Gastrointestinal and Behavioral Symptoms of Autistic Children
title_fullStr Randomized Double-Blind Crossover Study for Evaluating a Probiotic Mixture on Gastrointestinal and Behavioral Symptoms of Autistic Children
title_full_unstemmed Randomized Double-Blind Crossover Study for Evaluating a Probiotic Mixture on Gastrointestinal and Behavioral Symptoms of Autistic Children
title_short Randomized Double-Blind Crossover Study for Evaluating a Probiotic Mixture on Gastrointestinal and Behavioral Symptoms of Autistic Children
title_sort randomized double-blind crossover study for evaluating a probiotic mixture on gastrointestinal and behavioral symptoms of autistic children
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9504504/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36142909
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcm11185263
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