科学一直在寻找自闭症和肠道问题之间的联系

科学一直在寻找自闭症和肠道问题之间的联系

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

许多人会将自闭症与一些特征联系起来，包括非典型的社会交往、重复性行为以及语言和沟通方面的困难。

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

但也许鲜为人知的是，自闭症患者比普通人群更容易出现肠胃紊乱。

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.

一项研究发现，自闭症儿童报告胃肠道症状的可能性是未确诊儿童的四倍。该综述中的一些研究报告表明，男孩和女孩肠道问题的患病率是一样的。

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

这些症状包括便秘、腹泻、腹痛、腹胀、反流和呕吐。

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

像这样的肠道问题会阻碍自闭症患者及其家人的生活质量，进一步影响他们的睡眠、注意力和行为问题。

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.

很长一段时间，我们认为这是由于大脑控制肠道的方式。想想你肚子里的“蝴蝶” ，或者当你真的很紧张的时候急着去厕所。

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.

虽然大脑确实会影响肠道功能，但这只是一部分。最新的研究显示，自闭症患者的胃肠道症状可能是由于肠道本身的差异造成的。

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

肠道有自己专门的神经系统，称为肠神经系统，可协调消化以及食物和营养素的吸收。

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

肠神经系统是一个复杂的神经元网络，它沿着胃肠道延伸。

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.

虽然在结构上有很大的不同，但它所包含的细胞数量与脊髓大致相同，并且使用了许多与大脑相同的神经化学信使、受体和蛋白质。

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.

自闭症有很强的遗传成分。超过1000个基因突变与这种疾病有关。许多基因突变改变了大脑中神经元的交流方式。

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.

我们假设，这些基因突变中的一些也可能导致肠道中的神经元连接出错，导致一些自闭症患者出现肠胃问题。

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.

为了验证这一理论，我们研究了两个自闭症兄弟的病历，他们有一个与自闭症相关的影响神经元交流的单一基因突变。我们还研究了小老鼠。

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.

具有这种特殊突变的小鼠模型被称为神经胶质蛋白-3，它们此前曾表现出与自闭症相关的行为，如社交互动的改变、交流的减少和重复行为。

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.

我们发现这种突变也会影响小鼠肠道的肠神经系统。突变小鼠的肠道收缩发生了改变，食物通过小肠的速度比没有突变的小鼠更快。

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

同时，两兄弟都有肠道问题，包括食道炎(食道炎症)和腹泻。

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

因此，我们的研究表明，以前只在大脑中研究的与自闭症相关的基因突变也会影响肠道。