Can Medication Treat Autism Spectrum Disorder?

Shravani Khisti - Department of Neuroscience

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-020-0692-2

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a life-long condition affecting the neural wiring and pathways of an individual. Some common presentations include non-traditional learning styles, difficulty with social communication, and repetitive behaviors; however, it's important to note each individual has a unique presentation and level of symptoms. Some of the current treatments of Autism Spectrum Disorder include early intervention like Applied Behavioral Analysis and Occupational Therapy however these are often inaccessible and very expensive for certain patient populations. There has been an increasing need for medications that help treat symptoms of ASD without severe side effects and measurable effectiveness.

In this article, scientists aimed to measure the efficacy of a medication called bumetanide. A clinical trial of 83 patients with ASD was split into two groups where one was given bumetanide twice daily and the other was given a placebo. One of the core features measured includes the GABA/glutamate ratio measuring the correlation of the excitation and inhibition balance, which is often imbalanced in ASD patients. After the treatment, both groups were evaluated and those that were given bumetanide had an improved Children Autism Rating Scale (CARS) score. CARS is used for diagnosing and detecting the severity of autism among 14 different domains and autism related behaviors. The lower a score, the less severe a patient’s diagnosis. This study could completely change how Autism Spectrum Disorders are treated along with other developmental disorders. Medications like bumetanide are not only easily accessible but also much cheaper than traditional treatments. In the future, it might be significant to explore the comparison between traditional treatments for ASD like therapy and the use of medication.

References:

Zhang, L., Huang, CC., Dai, Y. et al. Symptom improvement in children with autism spectrum disorder following bumetanide administration is associated with decreased GABA/glutamate ratios. Transl Psychiatry 10, 9 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-020-0692-2