Treatments: In the waiting room
After years of making do with drugs developed for other conditions, doctors and scientists are eagerly pursuing drugs that target the social symptoms of autism.
After years of making do with drugs developed for other conditions, doctors and scientists are eagerly pursuing drugs that target the social symptoms of autism.
Mice missing the autism-linked gene CNTNAP2 have broad defects in their oxytocin system, according to research presented Tuesday at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in New Orleans. Treatment with oxytocin alleviates social deficits in these mice.
RNA editing, which creates multiple forms of a protein, is common among proteins involved in neuronal signaling, and may be abnormal in people with autism, according to a study published 7 August in Molecular Psychiatry.
The anti-inflammatory drug celecoxib, sometimes marketed as Celebrex, improves the effectiveness of risperidone for treating irritability in people with autism, according to a study published 11 July in Psychopharmacology.
Long-term treatment with antipsychotic drugs and mood stabilizers can change the structure of the brain.
The past few years have seen an unprecedented number of clinical trials for experimental drugs to treat autism-related disorders, most notably for fragile X syndrome. But as the trials progress, scientists are calling for better methods to measure the drugs’ effectiveness.
Aripiprazole, a drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat irritability in children with autism, may also improve their overall health-related quality of life, according to a retrospective analysis of two clinical trials. The results were published 21 March in Clinical Therapeutics.
Mice lacking the autism-linked gene CNTNAP2 show many of the behaviors associated with the disorder, and exhibit brain circuit disruptions similar to those seen in people who carry mutations in the gene.
Genetic variants in two autism-associated genes have been linked to repetitive behavior and hyperactivity, two common symptoms of the disorder, according to two studies published in the past few months.
Children who express a subset of genes — including one located in the autism-associated chromosomal region 16p11.2 — at higher or lower levels than normal benefit from treatment with the antipsychotic drug risperidone, according to a study published 7 June in the Pharmacogenomics Journal.