Could the Gut Microbiome be Linked to Autism?

Deficits in beneficial gut bacteria might also affect social brain function. In 2017, Cryan reported that when mice with an autism-like condition had lower levels of Bifidobacterium and Blautia gut bacteria, their guts made less tryptophan and bile acid — compounds needed to produce serotonin³. And children with autism have been consistently found to have lower levels of Veillonellaceae, Coprococcus and Prevotella gut bacteria than those without the condition⁴. Researchers have also observed that some people with ASD could have an abnormally porous blood–brain barrier, which allows some toxic bacterial by-products to enter the bloodstream and reach the brain⁵.

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