Today I went on PubMed.gov to find an article to discuss. I came across an article: Kang et al. (2019) Long-term benefit of Microbiota Transfer Therapy on autism symptoms and gut microbiota. You can find the free-access article in the link below.
To summarize, this is a follow-up on a clinical trial after two years on the effects of Microbiota Transfer Therapy (MTT) on treating children with ASD with gastrointestinal (GI) complications. Previous studies had shown abnormal gut microbiota (essentially gut bacteria) may be linked with autism-like behaviors. This has led the authors of this paper to come up with transferring normal gut microbiota to a person with ASD as a potential therapy. They call this MTT and, along with other steps like a bowel cleanse, antibiotics, etc., they believe could be a therapy for ASD children.
Their results are quite positive. As I said, this was a follow-up paper. Their open-label clinical trial, which is a clinical trial in which information such as what treatment they are getting is told to the participant (so no placebo), had 18 participants with varying degrees of ASD or autism-like behaviors. Their symptoms were measured, then they went through a 10-week treatment, had their symptoms measured again, and once more after 8 weeks after the end of treatment period. Each time, their ASD symptoms can seen to be improved as well as their GI symptoms. That was the basic results of the actual clinical trial.
Two years later was the follow up bringing with it even more positive news. Across the board, the benefits from the treatment were maintained and even improved. Patients showed higher gut microbiota diversity and improved ASD symptoms furthering showing this treatment as a valid potential long-term treatment for ASD symptoms. Therefore, the scientists want to conduct a double-blind, placebo trial to further instill confidence in this treatment.
For me, reading this is awesome. This is just the kind of thing that I want to do when I grow up to become a doctor. I would have never thought about GI treatments for ASD. Clearly I have a lot more to learn, but I am very excited for the future of this treatment. I hope that one day I can find and research a potential treatment for ASD.
Here is the article: Long-term benefit of Microbiota Transfer Therapy on autism symptoms and gut microbiota
Kang, D. W., Adams, J. B., Coleman, D. M., Pollard, E. L., Maldonado, J., McDonough-Means, S., Caporaso, J. G., & Krajmalnik-Brown, R. (2019). Long-term benefit of Microbiota Transfer Therapy on autism symptoms and gut microbiota. Scientific reports, 9(1), 5821. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-42183-0
Autism Aid 