Test drug eases behavioral symptoms seen in autism
In mice, compound curbs repetitive behaviors and improves sociability
In adult mice, an experimental drug eases two of the core behavioral symptoms of autism spectrum disorders, a new study shows. A single injection of the compound curbed repetitive behaviors and improved sociability, researchers report in the April 25 Science Translational Medicine.
Although it’s too soon to say whether the drug will work in people with autism, similar medicines are already being tested in humans for a related neurological condition known as fragile X syndrome. “This may be a case where you have a mouse finding that can actually lead to human studies in a fairly short amount of time,” says psychiatrist and molecular neuroscientist Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele of Vanderbilt University in Nashville.
No currently available drugs treat the core features of autism spectrum disorders — impaired social interactions, communication problems and repetitive behaviors, says study coauthor Jill Silverman of the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Md. “This is really exciting and worth investigating further because there are no available medicines out there,” she says.