ArticleMicrobial ecology in health and disease2015
Enteric short-chain fatty acids: microbial messengers of metabolism, mitochondria, and mind: implications in autism spectrum disorders.
Article in Microbial ecology in health and disease, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 127 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
127 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 255 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Role of Gut Microbiota in Gastrointestinal Symptoms of Children with ASD.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2019Pooled it
- Effect of Probiotic Supplementation on Gut Microbiota in Children with Autism: A Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial.Nutrients · 2026Trial
- Trial
- Colon-delivered short-chain fatty acids attenuate the cortisol response to psychosocial stress in healthy men: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2020Trial
- Short-Chain Fatty Acid-Dependent Neuroimmune Regulation in Autism Spectrum Disorder Pathogenesis.The European journal of neuroscience · 2026Review
- Synthetic Sweeteners and Human Health: An Overview of Health Risks, Vulnerable Populations, and Effects on Key Biological Systems.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Review
- The Gut Microbiome in Early Ontogeny: Implications for Brain and Immune System Development.Journal of developmental biology · 2026Review
- Integrated multi-matrix metabolomics reveals gut microbiota-driven systemic metabolic alterations and therapeutic remodeling by fecal microbiota transplantation in autism spectrum disorder.Journal of translational medicine · 2026Article
- Microbiome biomarkers in autism spectrum disorder: Toward prediction, diagnosis, and prognosis.Cell reports. Medicine · 2026Review
- Autism and the gut metabolome: Evidence for altered short-chain fatty acid profiles from a systematic review and meta-analysis.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Review
- Gut-Derived Metabolic Imbalance in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Toward the Concept of a Metabolic Subtype.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Microbiome-Derived Short-Chain Fatty Acids and Tryptophan Metabolites in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Stool-Urine Multi-Omics Analysis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Metabolic Alterations Induced by a Seizure-Causing Sodium Channel Mutation and their Partial Normalization by Dietary α-Linolenic Acid in Drosophila.Neurochemical research · 2026Article
- The role of the gut mycobiota in neurodevelopmental disorders: a multikingdom disruption of the gut-brain axis.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Review
- Gut microbiome is associated with stereotypic behavior of the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca).PloS one · 2026Article
- Effects of a Gain-of-Function Mutation in the Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel Gene, and of Dietary α-Linolenic Acid Supplementation, on Whole-Body Metabolism in Drosophila.Research square · 2025Article
- Moderate Reduction in Dietary Net Energy Level Enhances Intestinal Health in Tunchang Pigs via Gut Microbiota Modulation.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Microbiota Gut-Brain Axis and Autism Spectrum Disorder: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Perspectives.Nutrients · 2025Review
- Acetaminophen's Role in Autism and ADHD: A Mitochondrial Perspective.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Exploratory Analysis of Gut Microbiota Profile in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) Patients with Intellectual Disability.Molecular neurobiology · 2025Article
67 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Clinical observations suggest that gut and dietary factors transiently worsen and, in some cases, appear to improve behavioral symptoms in a subset of persons with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), but the reason for this is unclear. Emerging evidence suggests ASDs are a family of systemic disorders of altered immunity, metabolism, and gene expression. Pre- or perinatal infection, hospitalization, or early antibiotic exposure, which may alter gut microbiota, have been suggested as potential risk factors for ASD. Can a common environmental agent link these disparate findings? This review outlines basic science and clinical evidence that enteric short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), present in diet and also produced by opportunistic gut bacteria following fermentation of dietary carbohydrates, may be environmental triggers in ASD. Of note, propionic acid, a major SCFA produced by ASD-associated gastrointestinal bacteria (clostridia, bacteroides, desulfovibrio) and also a common food preservative, can produce reversible behavioral, electrographic, neuroinflammatory, metabolic, and epigenetic changes closely resembling those found in ASD when administered to rodents. Major effects of these SCFAs may be through the alteration of mitochondrial function via the citric acid cycle and carnitine metabolism, or the epigenetic modulation of ASD-associated genes, which may be useful clinical biomarkers. It discusses the hypothesis that ASDs are produced by pre- or post-natal alterations in intestinal microbiota in sensitive sub-populations, which may have major implications in ASD cause, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.