Gut microbiota from some participants in an earlier trial and an animal model

A study examining human data alongside mouse experiments

The human analysis included six boys with ASD aged 4–7 from Ou's earlier trial and 11 comparison children. The boys with ASD provided behavioral assessments and stool samples before and after 12 weeks of intake. The comparison children were used to compare gut microbiome features.

In a separate experiment, sulforaphane was injected intraperitoneally for 28 days into a mouse model of maternal immune activation during pregnancy. Social exploration of a novel mouse increased.

Associations were found between some communication changes and specific taxa.

Improvement was observed in half of six children, and the mean pre–post change in the OSU nonverbal communication subscore was significant. The researchers also analyzed correlations between changes in the relative abundance of certain microbial taxa and behavior.

Neither humans nor mice showed a significant increase in overall microbial diversity. The taxa that differed after intake were also not the same in the two species.

Correlation between gut taxa and behavioral changes

Correlations between behavior and microbial taxa were explored in six boys with ASD. This was a follow-up mechanistic analysis of an earlier clinical trial; factors such as diet could also affect the findings.