Abstract
Autism is characterized by communication impairments, neurobehavioral, social abnormalities and immunological and metabolic dysfunction. Among these, gastrointestinal abnormalities are of clinical importance associated with the autistic individuals. Gastrointestinal abnormalities can affect the neuropathological and behavioral features and contribute to pathogenesis of autistic symptoms. Now a spate of new studies supports this notion and suggests that restoring proper microbial balance could alleviate some of the disorder's behavioral symptoms. Evidence is mounting that some of the beneficial intestinal microbiome called probiotics favors the individuals with autism supporting the gut-brain barrier. These probiotics may provide therapeutic strategies for neurodevelopmental disorders. Therapies that target the gut microbiome may hold the key for making progress against a wide range of notoriously difficult psychiatric illnesses. Thus, a probiotic supplementation early in life may reduce the risk of neuropsychiatric disorder development later in childhood possible by mechanisms not limited to gut microbiota composition.
Keywords: Gut-brain barrier, microbiome, autistic symptoms, probiotic supplementation.
Graphical Abstract
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