Autism, also known as autism, has seen a significant increase in its incidence in recent years. Autism is affected by multiple factors such as genetics and environment, and there is still a lack of effective treatments. The Autism Research Center of the State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine at Nanjing Medical University is committed to research on the epidemiology, pathogenesis and clinical translation of autism. Liu Xingyin is also an adjunct professor at the center.
"The core symptoms of autism are social behavioral disorders and narrow interests, and many patients are often accompanied by intestinal symptoms." Liu Xingyin introduced that domestic and foreign research shows that at least 1/ 3% of autistic children will develop intestinal problems, such as constipation, bloating, diarrhea, etc. If the physiological problems of the children's intestines are solved during rehabilitation training, autism-related symptoms will be greatly improved.
In October 2015, after returning from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the United States, Liu Xingyin set up her own laboratory to study the interaction between autism genetic factors, immune factors and intestinal flora. Communication of the gut-microbe-brain axis as a major research direction.
After more than three years of painstaking research, her team used fruit flies as a model to reveal how the host's own genetic mutations interact with internal environmental factors represented by intestinal microorganisms, leading to social interactions. Defects and other autism-like phenotypes. This scientific research result was published in the top microbiology journal "Cell Host & Microbe" in April 2019. The patent for its related results was obtained in June this year. Authorization.
“In other words, in the autism model caused by some genetic factors, there is a positive feedback mechanism of interaction between the intestinal microbial community and the host immune system. Dysregulation of one party will lead to The deterioration of the entire system ultimately leads to an imbalance in the metabolic pathways related to neurotransmitters, causing symptoms represented by social impairment." Liu Xingyin's research also found that supplementing isolated Lactobacillus plantarum L168 can change the deteriorated intestinal microecology. , regulate the concentration of the neurotransmitter serotonin, and further improve the behavior of socially impaired fruit flies." Recently, after verifying the safety of this strain, they found that this strain can also partially improve maternal immune activation in autistic mice. Social behavioral disorders.
“More and more studies have found that intestinal microorganisms are related to the occurrence and development of various diseases, and microecological research has become one of the most promising subjects. Sun Hanwu, chairman of Sisa Biotechnology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., said that after identification by the national authoritative agency, strain L168 complies with the national food license. Sissa Biotechnology will cooperate with Professor Liu Xingyin’s team in scientific research to jointly develop this milk strain. Other functions and applications of Bacillus. “We hope that after completing clinical trials, we can launch products as soon as possible and achieve industrial transformation to better benefit autistic families and patients. "
The company also plans to use big data on bacterial flora to design a combination of this strain and other probiotics licensed by food in other countries. "The short-term goal is to make a common food that can help improve the symptoms of autism, and the mid-term goal is It is made into functional food for the field of autism that complies with national health product specifications. The long-term goal is to develop microbial drugs for different subtypes of auxiliary treatment of autism, so that biotechnology can better create a better life for mankind. . "He said.
Intern Zhao Jing