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"It Takes Guts:" Lipkin - Hornig - Autism Research

Forbin

Senior Member
Messages
966
I'm not sure if this article has been discussed before, but it appeared in the November 2015 edition of Columbia Public Health.

It Take Guts: Scientists Delve Into the Role of Intestinal Microbes in Autism.
https://www.mailman.columbia.edu/public-health-now/news/it-takes-guts

The article discusses efforts at Columbia University by Drs. Bresnahan, Hornig, Susser, Lipkin et al., to investigate the possible involvement of the microbiome in some cases of autism, as discussed earlier in their May 2015 paper in JAMA Psychiatry:

Association of maternal report of infant and toddler gastrointestinal symptoms with autism: evidence from a prospective birth cohort.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25806498


...and in this 2011 paper in PLoS One, by Drs. Williams, Hornig, Lipkin, et al.:

Impaired Carbohydrate Digestion and Transport and Mucosal Dysbiosis in the Intestines of Children with Autism and Gastrointestinal Disturbances
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0024585




Obviously, this is also intriguing in light of their interest in the mircobiome and its possible relationship to ME/CFS.
 
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SB_1108

Senior Member
Messages
315
From the It Takes Guts Article:
They found marked reductions in the expression of the genes that create enzymes to break down carbohydrates and transport simple sugars into the bloodstream; without them, a child with autism might be unable to absorb even glucose, the simplest of sugars. Using an assay custom built by Williams, they recorded a shift in the bacterial population of the intestines. In other words, there was a disturbance in the gut microbiome, the delicate ecosystem within our intestines. “Because these children can’t break down carbohydrates,” says Lipkin, “all those sugars flow into the colon, where they wreak havoc with the microflora.”
 

SB_1108

Senior Member
Messages
315
I've found digestive enzymes to be one of the main things to give me some relief so I've been doing a little more research on this and based on the article there are two major deficiencies noted in the article:
Disaccharidase enzymatic and hexose transporters

I know absolutely nothing about hexose transporters but disaccharidase enzymes includes:
Sucrase, Maltase, Lactase

Klaire Labs has developed a digestive enzyme supplement to address this specific concern:
http://www.klaire.com/enzymesforgi_vz.htm

And here is another by Integrative Therapeutics:
http://www.integrativepro.com/Products/Enzymes/Similase

I'll do some self-experimentation and report back! :)
 

Forbin

Senior Member
Messages
966
One thing that strikes me is that has been some speculation that ME is initiated by "two strikes," i.e. you have some existing predisposition that sets you up for a fall if you happen to get some kind of acute infection (perhaps almost any kind of acute infection).

What if that predisposition is a disrupted microbiome?

This would be the opposite of the idea that an acute infection disrupts the microbiome and that then leads to ME.

It might also make more sense in term of how rapidly ME manifests when triggered by an infection. I don't know, but I would expect an alteration in the microbiome to take some time to evolve, but that wouldn't be an issue if the microbiome was already altered at the time of infection.
 

rosie26

Senior Member
Messages
2,446
Location
NZ
One thing that strikes me is that has been some speculation that ME is initiated by "two strikes," i.e. you have some existing predisposition that sets you up for a fall if you happen to get some kind of acute infection (perhaps almost any kind of acute infection).

What if that predisposition is a disrupted microbiome?

This would be the opposite of the idea that an acute infection disrupts the microbiome and that then leads to ME.

It might also make more sense in term of how rapidly ME manifests when triggered by an infection. I don't know, but I would expect an alteration in the microbiome to take some time to evolve, but that wouldn't be an issue if the microbiome was already altered at the time of infection.
I think I'm in the infection with disrupted microbiome subgroup firstly - then years later taking hits via flu, stress, then lead me to full-blown ME. I don't understand the sudden ME's and how it all transpired for them though.
 

Justin30

Senior Member
Messages
1,065
I think I'm in the infection with disrupted microbiome subgroup firstly - then years later taking hits via flu, stress, then lead me to full-blown ME. I don't understand the sudden ME's and how it all transpired for them though.

This is how some Drs think....same point as you mentioned with your illness.