The gut microbiota (GM), which contains thousands of bacterial species, is a reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) called resistome. Early life exposure to antibiotics alters significantly the composition and function of the gut microbiota of children, which may trigger symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This is because the GM plays an important role in the bidirectional communication between the gut and the brain and influences the brain normal functioning through multiple pathways. The goal of this article is to study the distribution of ARGs in the GM of 3- to 5-year-old healthy children and children with ASD living in Moscow, Russia. The metagenomic analysis of samples from both groups revealed differences in the signatures between them. The signatures consisted of the bacterial genera and aminoglycoside, β-lactam, macrolide, and tetracycline resistance genes that they harbored. Our results show an increase in ARGs in the resistome of the GM of children with ASD. These findings emphasize the negative influence of early-life antibiotic therapy. We found three ARGs, aac(6′)-aph(2′′), cepA-49, and tet(40), which could serve as markers of ASD. The additional functions carried out by the enzymes, encoded by these genes, are being discussed.

中文翻译：

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自闭症谱系障碍儿童肠道微生物群中的抗生素抗性基因作为该疾病的可能预测因子。

肠道微生物群 (GM) 包含数千种细菌，是称为抵抗组的抗生素抗性基因 (ARG) 的储存库。早年接触抗生素会显着改变儿童肠道微生物群的组成和功能，这可能会引发自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 的症状。这是因为 GM 在肠道和大脑之间的双向通信中起着重要作用，并通过多种途径影响大脑的正常功能。本文的目的是研究居住在俄罗斯莫斯科的 3 至 5 岁健康儿童和 ASD 儿童的 GM 中 ARG 的分布。对两组样本的宏基因组分析揭示了它们之间的特征差异。特征包括细菌属和氨基糖苷类、β-内酰胺、大环内酯、以及他们携带的四环素抗性基因。我们的结果显示 ASD 儿童 GM 抵抗组中的 ARG 增加。这些发现强调了生命早期抗生素治疗的负面影响。我们发现了三个 ARG，aac(6')-aph(2'')、cepA-49 和 tet(40)，它们可以作为 ASD 的标志物。正在讨论由这些基因编码的酶所执行的附加功能。