Probiotic supplements and autism: Probiotic supplements could be beneficial in fighting autism, Prof Glenn Gibson, from the University of Reading, suggested yesterday at the BA Festival of Science in Norwich.
Prof Gibson presented findings from a preliminary study of stomach complaints in children with autism.
Children with autism are reported to frequently suffer from constipation, diarrhoea and stomach upsets. Prof Gibson's team found high levels of clostridium bacteria in faeces of children with autism.
Clostridium flourishes in the gut and is typically kept in check by naturally occurring "good" bacteria.
However, clostridium also produces harmful toxins.
"Whatever is going on there is not good for these children," Prof Gibson commented.
Autism is a disorder characterised by impaired social interaction, poor communication and an insistence on sameness. Increasing numbers of children are diagnosed with autism and recent research, published in the Lancet in July of this year, reported that as many as one in 100 British children could have some form of autistic disorder.
In the unpublished study, Gibson's team studied 40 children with autism aged four to eight.
Half were given a non-commercial probiotic called lactobacillus lantarum, the other half were given a placebo.
One gram of probiotic powder was given to the children each day, each gram containing around one billion bacteria.
The researchers asked parents, who did not know whether or not their child was receiving the probiotic, to keep a subjective diary of their child's mood and behaviour.
Following the treatment, the researchers counted the number of harmful bacteria left in the gut.
The results were inconclusive because about half of the children dropped out of the study before it was completed.
"Some of the parents worked out that their child was taking the probiotic and didn't want them to move on to the placebo because they were seeing some positive results," said Prof Gibson.
Of the children that remained in the study, Prof Gibson reported that for some children, levels of clostridium in the gut were reduced following exposure to probiotics.
In addition, he suggested that some parents had reported "better concentration and better behaviour" in children taking the probiotic.
The links between gut bacteria and the development of autism are unclear.
"Some clostridium bacteria produce neurotoxins, which may affect the brain at early stages of development," Prof Gibson reported.
Although preliminary, Prof Gibson said he was "cautiously optimistic" about the use of probiotics to treat autism and suggested that future research was necessary to confirm his findings.