ArticlePeerJ2025
Gut microbiota diversity and composition in children with autism spectrum disorder: associations with symptom severity.
Article in PeerJ, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- Associations of picky eating levels with dietary diversity, nutrient intake, and eating behaviors in preschool children with autism spectrum disorder: a cross-sectional study.Translational pediatrics · 2026Article
- Early Gut Microbiota and Neurodevelopmental Trajectories: Implications for Pediatric Neuropsychiatric Vulnerability-A Narrative Review.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Computational Identification of Blood-Brain Barrier-Permeant Microbiome Metabolites with Binding Affinity to Neurotransmitter Receptors in Neurodevelopmental Disorders.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Research progress on the microbiota-gut-brain axis in autism spectrum disorder: a narrative review.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Review
- The Vitamin D-Gut-Brain Axis in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Bidirectional Crosstalk.International journal of general medicine · 2026Review
- Characteristics of gut microbiota in children with language developmental delay.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Article
- Gut dysbiosis in neurodevelopmental disorders: linking microbiota signatures to cognitive rigidity in autism spectrum disorder.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Review
- Isolation and characterization of a novel exopolysaccharide from the fermented probioticFrontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Gut microbiota dysbiosis in autism spectrum disorder: 10 years of progress on compositional alterations, metabolic/immune mechanisms, and therapeutic strategies.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Review
- The role of the gut mycobiota in neurodevelopmental disorders: a multikingdom disruption of the gut-brain axis.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Review
- Gut Microbiota and Autism: Unlocking Connections.Nutrients · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder impairing social and communication skills. Gut microbiota has become key in understanding ASD pathophysiology. However, the relationship between the ASD symptoms and alternation of gut microbiota still remains unknow. We hypothesize that the composition of gut microbiota in children with ASD may be strongly associated with the severity of their symptoms. Methods: Here, fecal samples from children (divided in to three groups: neurotypical, severe ASD and mild ASD) at a hospital were collected. The symptoms of ASD were assessed by an experienced pediatric neurologist, and the severity of the symptoms in children with ASD was determined based on the assessment scores. Then the diversity and composition of gut microbiota were detected by high-throughput sequencing. Results: In total, 2,021 amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) were obtained from 46 fecal samples, with highest in the neurotypical group. Alpha diversity in bacteria differed between severe and mild ASD. Microbiota health and dysbiosis indices varied with ASD severity. Beta diversity indicated that severe ASD differed from others, and mild ASD was closer to neurotypical in community structure. At the phylum level, Firmicutes was the dominant bacteria but abundances differed in different groups, and Ascomycota increased in severe ASD fungi. At the genus level, groups had distinct dominants, and mild ASD microbiota resembled that of neurotypical children. Function prediction revealed differences in bacteria and fungi, with severe ASD having higher amino acid metabolism, lower cofactor/vitamin metabolism, and more undefined saprotrophs. Conclusion: This study revealed gut microbiota differences between ASD children (varying symptoms) and neurotypical ones, showing milder ASD closer in microbiota aspects. It offers insights for exploring ASD pathogenesis and devising interventions.
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