Traditional Chinese medicine Dachaihu decoction alleviates abnormal behavior through regulating gut microbiota and metabolites in children with ASD

Traditional Chinese Medicine Dachaihu decoction (DCHD) has been reported to hold great promise to alleviate autism spectrum disorders (ASD), a generalized neurodevelopmental disease associated with gut microbiome dysbiosis. Health-promoting effects of DCHD on ASD children could be attributed to gut microbiota reconstruction. However, its underlying mechanism of action remains elusive, resulting in rare therapies have proposed for TCM-targeted modulation of gut microbiota for the treatment of ASD. This study aimed to investigate the mechanisms by which DCHD alleviates ASD severity and social disorder, with particular emphasis on gut microbiota composition and metabolism.