Gut Microbiome and Nutrition Interplay in Regulating and Improving Autism Spectrum Disorder Related Social Symptoms

The composition of the gut microbiome has been shown to play a role in the onset of neurological disorders, including Autism Spectrum Disorder(ASD). A small variety of recent research articles identify a possible link between onset and severity of ASD related behaviors and the composition of the gut microbiome. The purpose of this review is to identify gaps in the current understanding of the role that nutrition plays in changing the gut microbiome and subsequently altering the onset and severity of behavioral phenotypes in children with ASD. Inclusion criteria comprises peer-reviewed publications relating to children with autism. Exclusion criteria consists of publications that do not have full text available, are irrelevant, or in a foreign language or out of the scope of the current review. Search began on PubMed with the string of “gut microbiome children autism” and ended with “diet changes gut microbiome children with autism” on Embase yielding 26 results. We identified the impact of nutrition in the gut microbiota as early as in utero and how these correlated to the severity of symptoms in ASD patients. Dietary modifications, probiotics supplementation, and microbial-based therapies demonstrated improvements in behavioral outcomes and metabolic profiles in individuals with ASD. Recommendations include investigation of which patient population each treatment is most effective for, increasing sample size, and standardizing diagnostic criteria for behavior across studies.