Oxytocin for autism spectrum disorders

by Benison O'Reilly on Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

As reported in the latest issue of Aspects magazine from Autism Spectrum Australia, there is some interesting autism research happening in my home town, Sydney.

The Centre for Autism Research, Evaluation, and Service (CARES), at the Brain & Mind Research Institute, recently conducted a small study to determine whether oxytocin nasal spray could enhance emotion understanding in high-functioning teenage males with an ASD.

As you probably know, oxytocin is often called the ‘hormone of love’.  Although best known for its role in facilitating labour, delivery, and breast-feeding, it is also important in promoting trust, love, and social recognition.

In this double-blind*, randomised trial, oxytocin nasal spray or a placebo was administered as a single dose to each of 16 participants in a cross-over design, and their performance was assessed using a standard test of emotion recognition, the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task. The researchers found oxytocin nasal spray improved emotion recognition compared with placebo, and the results were published in the April 1 2010 issue of Biological Psychiatry.¹

Inspired by this success, the researchers now wish to determine whether oxytocin nasal spray can improve long-term social function in ASD, and hence be used as a treatment for autism. Recruitment is underway for a new trial involving males aged 12 to 18 with ASDs. Participants will use oxytocin spray or a placebo twice a day for eight weeks, with social function  assessed before, immediately after, and three months following completion of the trial.

CARES is looking for males aged 12–18 years with an ASD to participate in the trial. If you know anyone who may be interested they should contact the Brain & Mind Research Institute on (02) 9351 0881 or email: autismcares@med.usyd.edu.au.

Unfortunately my little guy, Joe, is too young for the current trial, but once this study is completed—and if improvements are found—trials in different age groups and females will be conducted. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for a good outcome.

*A trial in which neither the participants nor the researchers know who is receiving the active drug and who is receiving placebo.

1. Guastella AJ, Einfeld SL, Gray KM, Rinehart NJ, Tonge BJ, Lambert TL, Hickie IB. Intranasal oxytocin improves emotion recognition for youth with autism spectrum disorders. Biological Psychiatry 2010;67:692-694

9 COMMENTS

Autism research on the home front

by Benison O'Reilly on Wednesday, September 9th, 2009

I remember one autism parent commenting once to my husband, a doctor, and me that, as health professionals, we must be really into biomedical interventions for ASD. Actually the reverse is true; apart from an abortive attempt to give our son fish oil we’ve done nothing: no supplements, no GFCF diet, no nothing, really.  My co-author Seana, in her own words, has done everything—we are in that sense the veritable odd couple.

It’s not like I haven’t read up on the topic either. The reason I remain sceptical is that when it comes to neurological disorders medical treatments, as a rule, tend to be pretty disappointing:   drugs for Parkinson’s disease lose their effectiveness and side effects develop, treatments for Alzheimer’s disease  and MS are of limited benefit.  We can use medicines to prevent strokes and (if the stroke is discovered in time) to limit their impact, but once the damage is done the mainstay of treatment is always rehabilitation, teaching the patient to walk, talk,  swallow etc.—in essence recreating important connections in the brain.  As all the research is pointing towards autism being a disorder of neural connectivity, I feel that therapy—speech, occupational, behavioural, developmental— to create those crucial neural connections is the way to go.

Many parents who go down the biomedical path talk to me of secretly hoping for the ‘magic bullet’, the one mystical pill, potion or supplement that is going to fix their child’s autism. In a way it’s tremendously liberating not to have that hope.  I’m happy to witness the incremental, but consistent, improvements that therapy seems to bring.

That doesn’t mean, however, that I’m not keen for clinical research into biomedical treatments to be done.  I believe it’s possible that some of these treatments may offer real benefits to some individuals on the spectrum, but I want to see evidence from proper randomised, controlled trials.

I am therefore excited about all the new research being conducted.  Get on the Internet and go to ClinicalTrials.gov to witness the sheer number and diversity of clinical trials underway into ASDs. On an even more exciting note, we now have some home-grown research happening, courtesy of the UniSA’s Autism Research Group (ARG).  Headed by Dr Manya Angley, The ARG is a multidisciplinary team of researchers aiming to better understand autism and help develop more effective diagnostic techniques and treatments.  Read more about their research at:

www.unisa.edu.au/sansominstitute/researchactivities/groups/autismresearch.asp

The search continues apace…

38 COMMENTS