Effect of vitamin A supplementation on gut microbiota in children with autism spectrum disorders - a pilot study

BMC Microbiology

Research Article

Min Guo¹  Ting Yang¹  Xi Lai¹  Ting Cui¹  Shu Liu¹  Jie Chen¹  Xiao-Hua Liang¹  Xiao Liu²  Juan Liu²  Ting-Yu Li²  Na-Li Hou²  Qian Cheng²  Xue-Qin Xiong³ 

[1] Children’s Nutrition Research Center, Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, No.136 Zhongshan Er Road, Yuzhong District, 400014, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China;Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, China International Science and Technology Cooperation Base of Child Development and Critical Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Pediatrics, Chongqing, China;Department of Child Health Care, Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China;Children’s Nutrition Research Center, Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, No.136 Zhongshan Er Road, Yuzhong District, 400014, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China;Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, China International Science and Technology Cooperation Base of Child Development and Critical Disorders, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Pediatrics, Chongqing, China;Pediatric Department of Clinical Medicine of Dazhou Vocational and Technical College, Dazhou, Sichuan, China;

关键词: Autism spectrum disorders;    Vitamin A;    Gut microbiota;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12866-017-1096-1

 received in 2017-05-22, accepted in 2017-08-21,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundDysbiosis of gut microbiota are commonly reported in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and may contribute to behavioral impairment. Vitamin A (VA) plays a role in regulation of gut microbiota. This study was performed to investigate the role of VA in the changes of gut microbiota and changes of autism functions in children with ASD.ResultsSixty four, aged 1 to 8 years old children with ASD completed a 6-month follow-up study with VA intervention. High-performance liquid chromatography was used to assess plasma retinol levels. The Autism Behaviour Checklist (ABC), Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) and Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) were used to assess autism symptoms. CD38 and acid-related orphan receptor alpha (RORA) mRNA levels were used to assess autism-related biochemical indicators’ changes. Evaluations of plasma retinol, ABC, CARS, SRS, CD38 and RORA mRNA levels were performed before and after 6 months of intervention in the 64 children. Illumina MiSeq for 16S rRNA genes was used to compare the differences in gut microbiota before and after 6 months of treatment in the subset 20 of the 64 children. After 6 months of intervention, plasma retinol, CD38 and RORA mRNA levels significantly increased (all P < 0.05); the scores of ABC, CARS and SRS scales showed no significant differences (all P > 0.05) in the 64 children. Meanwhile, the proportion of Bacteroidetes/Bacteroidales significantly increased and the proportion of Bifidobacterium significantly decreased in the subgroup of 20 (all false discovery rate (FDR) q < 0.05).ConclusionsBacteroidetes/Bacteroidales were the key taxa related to VA. Moreover, VA played a role in the changes in autism biomarkers. It remains unclear whether the VA concentration is associated with autism symptoms.Trial registrationThe study protocol was peer reviewed and approved by the institutional review board of Children’s Hospital, Chongqing Medical University in 2013 and retrospectively registered in Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR) on November 6, 2014 (TRN: ChiCTR-ROC-14005442).

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017