科學(xué)一直在尋找自閉癥和腸道問題之間的聯(lián)系

科學(xué)一直在尋找自閉癥和腸道問題之間的聯(lián)系

Many people will associate autism with traits including atypical social interactions, repetitive behaviours, and difficulties with speech and communication.

許多人會將自閉癥與一些特征聯(lián)系起來，包括非典型的社會交往、重復(fù)性行為以及語言和溝通方面的困難。

But perhaps lesser known is the fact people with autism are more likely to experience gastrointestinal disorders than the general population.

但也許鮮為人知的是，自閉癥患者比普通人群更容易出現(xiàn)腸胃紊亂。

One review found children with autism were four times more likely to report gastrointestinal symptoms than children without a diagnosis. A number of studies in the review reported the prevalence of gut problems was the same among boys and girls.

一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，自閉癥兒童報告胃腸道癥狀的可能性是未確診兒童的四倍。該綜述中的一些研究報告表明，男孩和女孩腸道問題的患病率是一樣的。

These symptoms can include constipation, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, bloating, reflux and vomiting.

這些癥狀包括便秘、腹瀉、腹痛、腹脹、反流和嘔吐。

Gut problems like these hinder quality of life for people with autism and their families, further affecting sleep, concentration and behavioural issues.

像這樣的腸道問題會阻礙自閉癥患者及其家人的生活質(zhì)量，進(jìn)一步影響他們的睡眠、注意力和行為問題。

For a long time we thought this was due to the way the brain controls the gut. Think of the "butterflies" you get in your stomach, or the need to rush to the toilet when you're really nervous.

很長一段時間，我們認(rèn)為這是由于大腦控制腸道的方式。想想你肚子里的“蝴蝶” ，或者當(dāng)你真的很緊張的時候急著去廁所。

While the brain does influence gut function, this is only part of the story. Newer research is showing gastrointestinal symptoms in autism may be due to differences in the gut itself.

雖然大腦確實會影響腸道功能，但這只是一部分。最新的研究顯示，自閉癥患者的胃腸道癥狀可能是由于腸道本身的差異造成的。

The gut contains its own dedicated nervous system, called the enteric nervous system, which co-ordinates digestion and the absorption of food and nutrients.

腸道有自己專門的神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)，稱為腸神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)，可協(xié)調(diào)消化以及食物和營養(yǎng)素的吸收。

The enteric nervous system is a complex integrated network of neurons that extends along the gastrointestinal tract.

腸神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)是一個復(fù)雜的神經(jīng)元網(wǎng)絡(luò)，它沿著胃腸道延伸。

While structurally quite different, it contains about the same number of cells as the spinal cord and uses many of the same neurochemical messengers, receptors and proteins as the brain.

雖然在結(jié)構(gòu)上有很大的不同，但它所包含的細(xì)胞數(shù)量與脊髓大致相同，并且使用了許多與大腦相同的神經(jīng)化學(xué)信使、受體和蛋白質(zhì)。

Autism has a strong genetic component. More than 1,000 gene mutations are associated with the disorder. Many of these gene mutations alter how neurons communicate in the brain.

自閉癥有很強(qiáng)的遺傳成分。超過1000個基因突變與這種疾病有關(guān)。許多基因突變改變了大腦中神經(jīng)元的交流方式。

We hypothesised some of these gene mutations may also cause neuron wiring to go awry in the gut, resulting in gastrointestinal issues in some people with autism.

我們假設(shè)，這些基因突變中的一些也可能導(dǎo)致腸道中的神經(jīng)元連接出錯，導(dǎo)致一些自閉癥患者出現(xiàn)腸胃問題。

To test this theory, we studied patient records of two brothers with autism, who have a single gene mutation associated with autism that affects neuron communication. We also studied mice.

為了驗證這一理論，我們研究了兩個自閉癥兄弟的病歷，他們有一個與自閉癥相關(guān)的影響神經(jīng)元交流的單一基因突變。我們還研究了小老鼠。

Mouse models with this specific mutation, called neuroligin-3, have previously shown behaviours relevant to autism, such as altered social interactions, reduced communication and repetitive behaviours.

具有這種特殊突變的小鼠模型被稱為神經(jīng)膠質(zhì)蛋白-3，它們此前曾表現(xiàn)出與自閉癥相關(guān)的行為，如社交互動的改變、交流的減少和重復(fù)行為。

We found this mutation also affects the enteric nervous system of the gut in mice. Mutant mice exhibited altered gut contractions, and the speed at which food moved through their small intestine was faster than the speed for mice without the mutation.

我們發(fā)現(xiàn)這種突變也會影響小鼠腸道的腸神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)。突變小鼠的腸道收縮發(fā)生了改變，食物通過小腸的速度比沒有突變的小鼠更快。

Meanwhile, both brothers have gut issues including esophagitis (inflammation of the esophagus) and diarrhoea.

同時，兩兄弟都有腸道問題，包括食道炎(食道炎癥)和腹瀉。

So our work shows a gene mutation associated with autism, previously only studied in the brain, could affect the gut too.

因此，我們的研究表明，以前只在大腦中研究的與自閉癥相關(guān)的基因突變也會影響腸道。