World Autism Awareness Day: Chinese scientists discover a new perspective of treatment

Image for the representation.

Beijing: Chinese scientists have discovered that the lack of a certain protein in flies causes an imbalance in the intestinal flora and makes them appear similar symptoms to those of autism in humans.

The team, led by Professor Liu Xingyin of the Nanjing Medical University in China, said that this discovery could lead to a new theoretical pathway of treating autism based on digestion and insomnia. immune activities, reported Xinhua.

Xingyin said Drosophila (Drosophila melanogaster), deficient in KDM5, remained distant from each other, was slow to respond and had less direct contact with other flies.
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"All these phenomena are similar to the communication disorders of people with autism," Liu said.
The study, published in the journal Cell Host and Microbe, showed that without the function of KDM5, the intestinal mucosal barriers of flies were damaged and their intestinal flora was unbalanced.

"Many people with autism also have severe intestinal disease, such as diarrhea and irritable bowel syndrome, which is consistent with our findings," said Liu.

Other research has also revealed that the use of antibiotics or feeding of Lactobacillus plantarum could improve the social behavior as well as the lifespan of some flies deficient in KDM5.

"Previous studies on autism were generally about genetics," he said. "We are eager to open a new path for human autism therapy from the point of view of human digestion and the immune system," Liu said.