Administration of 3KO-nscs reduces inflammation and enhances gut microbiota diversity in ASD mice, suggesting potential therapeutic benefits.
Background Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) involves complex neurological and gastrointestinal pathophysiology. Existing therapies rarely address the gut-brain axis connection. This study evaluated the therapeutic potential of immune-evasive human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neural stem cells (3KO-NSCs) in a mouse model of ASD. Methods We used a valproic acid (VPA)-induced ASD model in C57BL/6 mice. Mice received systemic administration of 3KO-NSCs. Assessments included behavioral assays (social interaction, repetitive behaviors), hippocampal cytokine profiling (IL-6, TNF-α), 16S rRNA sequencing for gut microbiota analysis, immunohistochemistry (Iba1 + microglia), and ultrastructural synaptic analysis. Results 3KO-hiPSC-NSC treatment significantly ameliorated VPA-induced ASD-like behaviors. It reduced hippocampal neuroinflammation (decreased IL-6 and TNF-α) and attenuated microglial overactivation (reduced Iba1+ cells), correcting synaptic pruning abnormalities. Concurrently, treatment restored gut microbiota diversity (increased Shannon index), enriching Bacteroides and reducing pro-inflammatory Proteobacteria. Conclusions 3KO-NSCs exert dual therapeutic effects by mitigating central neuroinflammation and rebalancing gut microbiota. This provides the first direct evidence that stem cell therapy can modulate the gut-brain axis to treat ASD, positioning 3KO-NSCs as a novel bifunctional therapeutic strategy.
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Wu et al. (2025) studied this question.
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