ArticleBMC microbiology2026
Gut microbiota mediates the beneficial effects of exercise on autism-like behaviors.
Article in BMC microbiology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Exercise dose architecture as a precision-informed developmental framework in autism spectrum disorder: a narrative review of mechanisms, sex- and development-related heterogeneity, and clinical translation.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Dissecting the Ecological Structure of Health and Disease in the Global Gut Microbiome.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Continuous Alterations in the Gut Microbial Landscape Associated With Suicidal Ideation in First-Episode Drug-naïve Major Depressive Disorder.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2026Article
- Effects of serum hypersensitive C-reactive protein and BMI on cognitive dysfunction in first-episode and drug-naive patients with major depressive disorder.BMC psychiatry · 2026Article
- The Brain-Gut Health Initiative (BIGHI): A Prospective Cohort on Psychiatric Disorders in China.Research (Washington, D.C.) · 2026Review
- Inulin ameliorates chronic ketamine-induced anxiety-like behaviors and impairments in spatial learning and memory: involvement of gut microbiota, microbial metabolite short-chain fatty acids, and the BDNF-TrkB-ERK1/2-CREB pathway.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe gut-brain axis plays a critical role in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but the mechanisms through which exercise modulates gut microbiota, short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), and central neurotransmitters to ameliorate ASD-like behaviors remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the effects of exercise on ASD-like behaviors, gut microbiota, and metabolism in a valproic acid (VPA)-induced ASD rat model and to validate these findings via fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT).
methodsASD rat models were established through prenatal exposure to VPA and divided into four groups: exercise (E_ASD), non-exercise (ASD), FMT, and sham FMT (sFMT). The E_ASD group underwent 6 weeks of voluntary wheel running, while the FMT group received fecal microbiota from the E_ASD group for 4 weeks. Behavioral assessments were conducted to evaluate cognitive and social functions. Fecal microbiota composition was analyzed via 16S rRNA sequencing, while SCFAs and neurotransmitters were measured using gas and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.
resultsSix weeks of voluntary exercise significantly alleviated ASD-like behaviors, particularly improving social interactions. Exercise also altered gut microbiota composition, increasing Limosilactobacillus and Lactobacillus while decreasing Allobaculum. Additionally, SCFAs and neurotransmitter levels in the prefrontal cortex were modulated. Notably, FMT from the exercise group replicated these behavioral and metabolic improvements in ASD rats. Exercise improves ASD-like behaviors by modulating gut microbiota, SCFAs, and neurotransmitter levels, and FMT offers further validation of these effects.
conclusionThese findings highlight exercise and FMT as promising strategies for alleviating ASD-related symptoms through gut-brain axis modulation.
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