Fragile X Syndrome Research Points To Zoloft As Possible Autism Treatment
UC DAVIS (CBS13) — UC Davis researchers believe they've found a new possible treatment for autism.
Professor Randi Hagerman is leading research into children with Fragile X Syndrome, a genetic condition that causes developmental problem, including autism. The condition is caused by a repeat of a gene on the X chromosome—the longer the repetition, the more severely it affects the person.
"They just keep overreacting to stimuli," she said. "They get anxious and nervous--and they start acting out."
To calm those children, new research centered around a popular anti-anxiety drug is showing promising results.
"Low dose sertraline—at a very low dose; between 2.5 and 5 milligrams a day—really helps overall development, visual perception, fine motor coordination," she said.
Researchers as the UC Davis MIND Institute also found it improved expressive language abilities.
They studied 55 children ages 2 to 6 years old with Fragile X. In the six-month study, they gave half of them a low dose of sertraline, more commonly known as Zoloft. The other half received a placebo.
The Zoloft group showed marked improvements. Studies show young children with autism have low levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter found in the gastrointestinal tract. Zoloft increases those levels.
Hagerman also believes it stimulates a protein in the brain called encoded by the BDNF gene.
"That stimulates connectivity between neurons; it can also stimulate the formation of new neurons," she said. "It also seems to calm down the anxiety and makes them less over-reactive to stimuli in their environment."
Researchers at the MIND Institute aren't done studying the possible new breakthrough and are looking for more children diagnosed with non-Fragile X autism to be part of a similar study.
