This month, at the International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR), Dr. Ruth Ann Luna, a microbial geneticist, presented her initial findings on the role of the microbiome in autism, GI distress and behavioral manifestations.
Dr. Luna presented her findings from a 2 week case study of children with autism who present with GI problems. In the study, daily stool samples were taken from autistic children and compared those findings with unaffected siblings. Behavior was tracked and correlated with specific bacteria during periods where GI distress was noted.
Notable findings from this study:
*”All of the daily stool samples from the child with autism contained four organisms that earlier research had associated with autism. These included Sarcina ventriculi, Barnesiella intestihominis, Clostridium bartlettii, and Clostridium bolteae. By contrast, none of these bacteria appeared in the stool of the unaffected sibling.”
*” The bacterium Haemophilus parainfluenzae appeared in the stool of the child with autism during a three-day period when the child experienced GI pain, diarrhea and a spike in challenging behaviors including self-injury.”
* “On a separate two-day period, another spike in H. parainfluenzae correlated with another increase in self-injurious behavior – but this time without any change in stool consistency or obvious signs of GI pain.”
“The appearance of H. parainfluenzae in the child’s stool came as a surprise to the researchers. This bacterium normally resides in the respiratory tract, where its overgrowth can cause ear, throat and lung infections. None of those sicknesses were present in the child or family members during the study period, Dr. Luna said”
https://www.autismspeaks.org/science/science-news/autism-and-microbiome-case-study-delivers-surprises-and-guidance
https://www.autismspeaks.org/science/science-news/autism-speaks-invests-23-million-research-gut-brain-connection
