Gut Flora nd Autism.docVIP

Gut Flora and Autism Introduction Autism Spectrum Disorder Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is the category of which autism falls under. ASD describes a range of neural development disorders which normally manifests in children before 18 months of age but late onset can occur after 18 months?[1,2]. There are?different degrees of ASD?with varying symptoms among individuals. It is usually characterized by difficulties in social interaction, repetitive behaviour and delays in understanding language?[2]. The etiology of autism is unknown. However, autistic children have been reported to suffer from severe and frequent gastrointestinal (GI) problems which suggests that there may be a link between autism and the gut?[3,4]. The Human Gut It is estimated that there are about 300-500 different species of bacteria that form a mutualistic interaction with the human digestive tract to provide metabolic, immune and protective functions?[5]. Gut flora aid in the fermentation of non-digestible dietary residue and carbohydrates. They also help produce short chain fatty acids. The gut microbiome consists mainly of bacteria from two phylum?Firmicutes?and?Bacteroidetes?[5]. Research GI problems include diarrhea, unformed stools, constipation, bloating and/or gastroesophageal reflux. Among the autistic population, GI problems are a common occurrence, as shown in a 2011 study where 63% of the autistic children had GI problems compared to the 2% of the control group that had GI problems[3]. The control group refers to the group of children who do not have autism. In 2002, stool, gastric juice and duodenal fluid samples from collected from various children hospitals from autistic patients with a history of GI problems and were examined?[6]. In total, 25 different species of?Clostridium?were encountered, 9 of which were found exclusively in the gut of autistic children while 3 species were only found in the control (6).?Clostridium difficile, a species that was found only in autistic stools,