Impact of Human Milk Oligosaccharides and Probiotics on Gut Microbiome and Mood in Autism: A Case Report

Abstract

Recent evidence has highlighted the role of the gut-brain axis in the progression of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), with significant changes in the gut microbiome of individuals with this condition. This report investigates the effects of probiotics and human milk oligosaccharide (HMO) supplements on the gut microbiome, inflammatory cytokine profile, and clinical outcomes in an ASD adolescent with chronic gastrointestinal dysfunction and cognitive impairment. Following treatment, we observed a decrease in proinflammatory cytokines' concentration alongside Sutterella relative abundance, a bacterium reported to be linked with gastrointestinal diseases. Also, we reported a notable increase in mood stability. The study aims to evaluate the use of gut microbiome-based therapy in selected ASD patients, highlighting its potential to improve related clinical symptoms.

Keywords: HMOs; autism spectrum disorder; cytokines; microbiome; next-generation sequencing.

Figure 1

Composition, at the phylum level (Ion PGM™ System technology), of the fecal microbiota in the ASD individual at 4 different time points, compared to a reference microbiota.

Figure 2

Relative abundance of Sutterella spp. over the four different time points described.

Figure 3

Trend over different times of the relative abundances of bacterial genera detected by the sequencing analysis.

Figure 4

Cytokines’ variation over time (Kruskal–Wallis test|p-value < 10⁻⁴, chi-squared = 21.56). The median trend line is shown in red, and the outlier values are represented as black dots.

Figure 5

Reduction trend of Sutterella and IL-1β, IL-2, and IL-6 over time. The relative abundance is represented on the x-axis, while on the y-axis, the concentration in pg/mL of the three cytokines is taken into consideration.