Researches on gut microbiota in autism have mostly focused on children, but the dynamic changes of gut microbiota from weaning to adulthood were still not clear because of the difficulty of diagnosing autism. In this study, autistic-like rats indued by valproate (VPA) were tracked from weaning (end of breastfeeding; four weeks old) to sexual maturation (food; eight weeks old). Autistic-like rats were found to show obvious developmental disorders. During weaning, autistic-like rats only exhibited obvious repetitive stereotyped behaviors, but the autistic-like behaviors were fully apparent upon sexual maturation. Significant differences were observed between the gut microbiota of autistic-like and healthy rats across both age groups. The correlation analysis results revealed that the correlation between behaviors and some microbiota, especially Helicobacter, did not vary with age or diet. The total amount of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) decreased, butyric acid metabolism decreased, and propionic acid metabolism increased in the feces of autistic-like rats. The correlation between autistic-like behaviors and the butyric acid and propionic acid levels did not vary with diet or age. Inositol phosphate metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis were significantly associated with autistic-like behaviors. Our results showed that although the microbiota and SCFAs related to autism were affected by age and diet, some remained consistent irrespective of age and diet, and they could be considered two of the factors related to autistic-like behaviors development.

中文翻译：

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VPA诱导的自闭症样大鼠在断奶和性成熟期间的自闭症样行为发展伴随着肠道微生物群失调


自闭症肠道菌群的研究主要集中在儿童，但由于自闭症诊断困难，肠道菌群从断奶到成年的动态变化仍不清楚。在这项研究中，对丙戊酸（VPA）引起的自闭症样大鼠从断奶（母乳喂养结束；四周大）到性成熟（食物；八周大）进行了追踪。研究发现类似自闭症的老鼠表现出明显的发育障碍。在断奶期间，类自闭症大鼠仅表现出明显的重复刻板行为，但自闭症样行为在性成熟时完全明显。在两个年龄组的自闭症样大鼠和健康大鼠的肠道微生物群之间观察到显着差异。相关性分析结果显示，行为与某些微生物群（尤其是螺杆菌）之间的相关性不随年龄或饮食而变化。自闭症样大鼠粪便中短链脂肪酸（SCFA）总量减少，丁酸代谢减少，丙酸代谢增加。自闭症样行为与丁酸和丙酸水平之间的相关性不随饮食或年龄而变化。肌醇磷酸代谢、氨基酸代谢和脂多糖生物合成与自闭症样行为显着相关。我们的结果表明，尽管与自闭症相关的微生物群和短链脂肪酸受到年龄和饮食的影响，但有些微生物群和短链脂肪酸与年龄和饮食无关，保持一致，并且它们可以被认为是与自闭症样行为发展相关的两个因素。