Autism-Open Access
Open Access

Abstract

Mitochondria, Microbiome and Their Potential Psychiatric Modulation

Christopher Snyder, Richard M Kream, Radek Ptacek and George B Stefano

Pervasive developmental disorders, or autism spectrum disorders, are multifaceted and have a high rate of occurrence. Additionally, the origin of Autism appears to be multidimensional and largely unknown. Thus, it would appear novel approaches and concepts are needed in this area of scientific endeavor. In this regard, microbial cells harbored within the human gut and elsewhere are being studied to understand their multi-functional properties and their ability to affect physiological activities in their “host” organism. The communities of approximately 10 trillion microbial cells that live within the gut are involved in functions such as metabolism, nutrition and immune regulation. We and others surmise this microbiota can contribute to disruption of normal activities, causing harmful pathologies such as gastrointestinal complications, obesity, and diabetes and autism. They have the ability to trigger inappropriate immune activation, especially macrophages, which can travel from the gut and penetrate the blood brain barrier and communicate inappropriately with neural cells, altering behavior. Normally these immune cells can enter the brain and become microglia. However, being abnormally stimulated, many more can enter the brain, awakening the sentinel microglia and establishing a proinflammatory state, inducing hypoxia (altering mitochondrial performance). Thus, the microbiome has the potential to extend its influence into the brain, suggesting this may also take place within the parameters of normal activity. In part, the behavioral outcome of such an inappropriate invasion would depend on the region(s) penetrated, manifesting itself with a multidimensional behavioral profile such as occurs in autism.