Study: Children With Autism Could Benefit From Fecal Transplants
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A study has found that children with autism may benefit from fecal transplants.
Researchers say it is a method of introducing donated healthy microbes into people with gastrointestinal disease to re-balance the gut.
Researchers say behavioral symptoms of autism and gastrointestinal distress often go hand-in-hand, and both improved when a group of children with the disorder underwent fecal transplant and subsequent treatment.
In the study, the parents and doctors of 18 children with autism and moderate to severe gastrointestinal problems said they saw positive changes that lasted at least eight weeks after the children received treatment.
Researchers say children without autism were also included for comparison of bacterial and viral gut composition prior to the study.
Ann Gregory, one of the study's lead authors and a microbiology graduate student at The Ohio State University said, "Transplants are working for people with other gastrointestinal problems. And, with autism, gastrointestinal symptoms are often severe, so we thought this could be potentially valuable."
"Following treatment, we found a positive change in gastrointestinal symptoms and neurological symptoms overall."
Researchers say a growing amount of research is drawing connections between the bacteria and viruses that dwell in the gut and problems in the brain. They say it is possible that the two are tied together in an important way in autism.
Previous research found that children with autism typically have fewer types of important bacteria in their guts and less bacterial diversity overall. They say it could be because many children with autism are prescribed a lot of antibiotics in the first three years of life.
Following treatment, parents reported a decrease in gut woes and saw significant changes for the better when it came to behavioral autism symptoms, according to the study.
Researchers say they collected this information from parents through standardized questionnaires to assess social skills, irritability, hyperactivity, communication and other measures. One of the tools showed the average developmental age increased by 1.4 years after treatment.
The children ranged from 7 to 16 years old.
When the researchers asked parents to give feedback on 17 autism-related symptoms, they saw overall improvement that was sustained two months after the final treatment.
James Adams, one of the study's lead authors and a professor who specializes in autism, called the results compelling, but cautioned that larger, more rigorous studies confirming benefits must be done before the approach could be used widely.
The study appears in the journal Microbiome.