TY - JOUR
T1 - Long-term benefit of Microbiota Transfer Therapy on autism symptoms and gut microbiota
AU - Kang, Dae Wook
AU - Adams, James B.
AU - Coleman, Devon M.
AU - Pollard, Elena L.
AU - Maldonado, Juan
AU - McDonough-Means, Sharon
AU - Caporaso, J. Gregory
AU - Krajmalnik-Brown, Rosa
N1 - Funding Information:
We gratefully thank all children with ASD and their families for participating in the follow-up study. We would like to thank Thomas Borody, Alexander Khoruts, Michael J. Sadowsky, and Alessio Fasano for their help with the treatment portion of the study and also for their help with the original Investigational New Drug (IND) application and study. We thank Finch Therapeutics (formerly Crestovo) for providing Standardized Human Gut Microbiota for the study. We also thank Carole Flores for editing assistance. This work was supported by Finch Therapeutics and the Arizona Board of Regents.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, The Author(s).
PY - 2019/12/1
Y1 - 2019/12/1
N2 - Many studies have reported abnormal gut microbiota in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), suggesting a link between gut microbiome and autism-like behaviors. Modifying the gut microbiome is a potential route to improve gastrointestinal (GI) and behavioral symptoms in children with ASD, and fecal microbiota transplant could transform the dysbiotic gut microbiome toward a healthy one by delivering a large number of commensal microbes from a healthy donor. We previously performed an open-label trial of Microbiota Transfer Therapy (MTT) that combined antibiotics, a bowel cleanse, a stomach-acid suppressant, and fecal microbiota transplant, and observed significant improvements in GI symptoms, autism-related symptoms, and gut microbiota. Here, we report on a follow-up with the same 18 participants two years after treatment was completed. Notably, most improvements in GI symptoms were maintained, and autism-related symptoms improved even more after the end of treatment. Important changes in gut microbiota at the end of treatment remained at follow-up, including significant increases in bacterial diversity and relative abundances of Bifidobacteria and Prevotella. Our observations demonstrate the long-term safety and efficacy of MTT as a potential therapy to treat children with ASD who have GI problems, and warrant a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in the future.
AB - Many studies have reported abnormal gut microbiota in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), suggesting a link between gut microbiome and autism-like behaviors. Modifying the gut microbiome is a potential route to improve gastrointestinal (GI) and behavioral symptoms in children with ASD, and fecal microbiota transplant could transform the dysbiotic gut microbiome toward a healthy one by delivering a large number of commensal microbes from a healthy donor. We previously performed an open-label trial of Microbiota Transfer Therapy (MTT) that combined antibiotics, a bowel cleanse, a stomach-acid suppressant, and fecal microbiota transplant, and observed significant improvements in GI symptoms, autism-related symptoms, and gut microbiota. Here, we report on a follow-up with the same 18 participants two years after treatment was completed. Notably, most improvements in GI symptoms were maintained, and autism-related symptoms improved even more after the end of treatment. Important changes in gut microbiota at the end of treatment remained at follow-up, including significant increases in bacterial diversity and relative abundances of Bifidobacteria and Prevotella. Our observations demonstrate the long-term safety and efficacy of MTT as a potential therapy to treat children with ASD who have GI problems, and warrant a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in the future.
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U2 - 10.1038/s41598-019-42183-0
DO - 10.1038/s41598-019-42183-0
M3 - Article
C2 - 30967657
AN - SCOPUS:85064093985
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 9
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
IS - 1
M1 - 5821
ER -