Previous studies have reported dysbiosis in the gut microbiota (GM) of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), which may be a determining factor on child development through the microbiota-gut-brain axis. However, it is not clear if there is a specific group of dysbiotic bacteria in ASD. The aim of this study was to carry out a meta-analysis on the studies that analyze GM in children with ASD. 18 studies fulfilled our selection criteria. Our results showed a lower relative abundance of Streptococcus (SMD+ = - 0.999; 95% CI - 1.549, - 0.449) and Bifidobacterium genera (SMD+ = - 0.513; 95% CI - 0.953, - 0.073) in children with ASD. Overall, the Bifidobacterium genera is involved. However, differences found between studies are attributed to factors such as reporting bias.
Keywords: Autism spectrum disorders (ASD); Gut microbiota; Meta-analysis; Microbiota-gut-brain axis; Systematic review.
© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.