Prospective association of the infant gut microbiome with social behaviors in the ECHO consortium.
Hannah E Laue, Kevin S Bonham, Modupe O Coker and 8 others
PMID 38760865WHAT IT FOUND
Most early-life gut microbiome links to later social behavior scores were weak or absent.
Some bacterial gene pathways for short-chain fatty acids and menaquinone showed small prospective signals, but findings were not consistently replicable.
Key findings
01In NHBCS, differences in 6-week stool microbiome communities were linked to later caregiver-rated social behavior scores, while differences in 1-year communities were not linked.
02At 6 weeks, bacterial gene pathways for butyrate, acetate, and propionate were linked to social behavior scores, and these links were not seen in the same way at older ages.
03In the 56-participant NHBCS metabolomics subset, higher stool butyrate was linked to higher social behavior scores before accounting for other factors, but that link was no longer clear after accounting for them.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The study measured associations and did not test whether changing the microbiome, diet, probiotics, or antibiotics changes social behavior. Many associations were weak, and the models from one cohort did not predict scores in the other cohort. Most species associations did not survive adjustment for multiple comparisons. The sample was limited and included few participants at high risk for ASD. The two cohorts used different stool collection methods and different SRS-2 forms for most participants. Sex-specific findings were likely underpowered and were not replicated in RESONANCE because some species were rare there. Gene abundance does not show that bacteria are actively producing the molecules, and fecal metabolite levels may not reflect levels in the body. The metabolomics analysis included only 56 NHBCS children, and menaquinone and isovaleric acid were not measured in that subset. The outcome was a caregiver-reported social behavior score, not a clinical ASD diagnosis. The study did not account for dietary patterns in older infants or toddlers.
Declared interests
The supplied text lists U.S. government and NIH research support. It does not provide a conflicts of interest statement.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that changing the gut microbiome, diet, probiotics, or antibiotics will improve social behavior. This study observed associations in stool samples and did not test treatment, and many findings were weak, sex-specific, or not replicated.