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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jan 7, 2016; 22(1): 361-368
Published online Jan 7, 2016. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v22.i1.361
Gut microbiota in autism and mood disorders
Francesca Mangiola, Gianluca Ianiro, Francesco Franceschi, Stefano Fagiuoli, Giovanni Gasbarrini, Antonio Gasbarrini
Francesca Mangiola, Gianluca Ianiro, Francesco Franceschi, Antonio Gasbarrini, Catholic University, School of Medicine, 00168 Rome, Italy
Francesca Mangiola, Gianluca Ianiro, Francesco Franceschi, Antonio Gasbarrini, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology and Liver Disease; “A. Gemelli” University Hospital, 00168 Rome, Italy
Stefano Fagiuoli, Gastroenterology and Transplant Hepatology, Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital, 24127 Bergamo, Italy
Giovanni Gasbarrini, “Ricerca in Medicina” ONLUS Foundation, 40121 Bologna, Italy
Author contributions: All authors contributed to the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No conflict-of-interest declared.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Antonio Gasbarrini, MD, Professor, Catholic University, School of Medicine, Largo F. Vito 1, 00168 Rome, Italy. agasbarrini@rm.unicatt.it
Telephone: +39-63-156018 Fax: +39-63-157249
Received: June 9, 2015
Peer-review started: June 11, 2015
First decision: September 11, 2015
Revised: October 9, 2015
Accepted: November 11, 2015
Article in press: November 11, 2015
Published online: January 7, 2016
Abstract

The hypothesis of an important role of gut microbiota in the maintenance of physiological state into the gastrointestinal (GI) system is supported by several studies that have shown a qualitative and quantitative alteration of the intestinal flora in a number of gastrointestinal and extra-gastrointestinal diseases. In the last few years, the importance of gut microbiota impairment in the etiopathogenesis of pathology such as autism, dementia and mood disorder, has been raised. The evidence of the inflammatory state alteration, highlighted in disorders such as schizophrenia, major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder, strongly recalls the microbiota alteration, highly suggesting an important role of the alteration of GI system also in neuropsychiatric disorders. Up to now, available evidences display that the impairment of gut microbiota plays a key role in the development of autism and mood disorders. The application of therapeutic modulators of gut microbiota to autism and mood disorders has been experienced only in experimental settings to date, with few but promising results. A deeper assessment of the role of gut microbiota in the development of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), as well as the advancement of the therapeutic armamentarium for the modulation of gut microbiota is warranted for a better management of ASD and mood disorders.

Keywords: Gut microbiota, Mood disorders, Autism, Depression, Gut microbiota modulation, Fecal microbiota transplantation

Core tip: Up to now, available evidences display that the impairment of gut microbiota plays a key role in the development of autism and mood disorders. The application of therapeutic modulators of gut microbiota to autism and mood disorders has been experienced only in experimental settings to date, with few but promising results, that suggest the microbiota modulation as a therapeutic approach for autism and mood disorders.