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Century-Old Drug Reverses Signs of Autism In Mice

Posted by Soulskill on from the good-news-for-master-splinter dept.

sciencehabit writes: A single dose of a century-old drug has eliminated autism symptoms in adult mice with an experimental form of the disorder. Originally developed to treat African sleeping sickness, the compound, called suramin, quells a heightened stress response in neurons that researchers believe may underlie some traits of autism. The finding raises the hope that some hallmarks of the disorder may not be permanent, but could be correctable even in adulthood.

34 of 207 comments (clear)

  1. Well, so much for slashdot by i+kan+reed · · Score: 5, Funny

    Any idea what will be at this domain when its entire userbase is cured?

    1. Re:Well, so much for slashdot by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Funny

      Why, the insightful and informative discussions of topical issues we used to have, grounded in solid science and without bias.

      LOL, ok, I can't even type that without laughing.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    2. Re:Well, so much for slashdot by king+neckbeard · · Score: 4, Insightful

      This supposedly treats symptoms of autism, not internet diagnosis of autism that often include behaviors that have nothing to do with autism.

      --
      This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
    3. Re:Well, so much for slashdot by flyingsquid · · Score: 4, Funny

      This treatment is a huge step forward. Finally- mice that can recognize sarcasm.

    4. Re:Well, so much for slashdot by bricko · · Score: 2

      Jenny McCarthy will be devasted

    5. Re:Well, so much for slashdot by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 4, Funny

      internet diagnoses of autism that often include...

      FTFY.

      behaviors that have nothing to do with autism.

      Such as tedious pedantry (see above).

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    6. Re:Well, so much for slashdot by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 2

      I was unaware that she was vast...let alone trying not to be.

      only 50 percent vast

      halfvast.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  2. Can a company patent it? by mi · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Gaining a drug's approval by the Food and Drug Administration in the US — and similar government agencies in other countries — is a very expensive process. The expense is normally offset for by the patent(s) granted to the pharmaceutical company, that developed the drug, which make it an exclusive maker/seller of the medicine for decades.

    However, if the drug is long-known — and only needs an approval for new application — who will undertake to pay for the approval, if there is no way to patent it and the approval will allow all drug-makers (both domestic and foreign) to put their own versions on the market?

    --
    In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    1. Re:Can a company patent it? by larwe · · Score: 2

      Off-label use of a drug currently approved for a given clinical use is very easy to achieve. However, looking at the side effects of this pharmafossil, it's looking like the side effects are worse than the condition it is being proposed to treat. I can't see an adult consenting to take it. Parents could force their children to be dosed with it, I guess.

    2. Re:Can a company patent it? by i+kan+reed · · Score: 2

      I'm not sure why an agriculture company would get a patent on a psychiatric medication. I get that Monsanto and Big Pharma are both "bad guys", but the patent(now expired) on Ritalin was granted to Novarta, a swiss pharmaceutical company, and most of their current work revolves around vaccines.

      This is all information turned up in a few seconds of basic research(yay internet era). The point is that you shouldn't go crazy with every single thing being one big conspiracy.

    3. Re:Can a company patent it? by mi · · Score: 2

      one of those autism related charities should be able to front the bill.

      Are there autism-related charities capable of putting forth the $150 million typically required to pay for FDA's approval?

      And even if there are, I suspect, some of them might not want to to do that — under some legitimate-sounding reason — because it might eliminate their very reason for existing... Just as I would not trust "anti-poverty" politicians to do anything to really eliminate it — thus ending their political careers...

      --
      In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    4. Re:Can a company patent it? by jklovanc · · Score: 2

      Wow you must have a thing against Monsanto. They are an agribusiness and not a pharmaceutical company. Ritaline was invented by CIBA, now Novartis Corporation.

    5. Re:Can a company patent it? by medv4380 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The drug is still in use, and there is nothing preventing a doctor from prescribing it for an off label use.

    6. Re:Can a company patent it? by NatasRevol · · Score: 2

      Given that they could easily over-market this drug to helicopter parents, I imagine the large pharma companies wouldn't hesitate at spending that for the approval.

      --
      There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
    7. Re:Can a company patent it? by russotto · · Score: 2

      Imagine not being able to communicate your fears, frustrations, desires, etc to anybody... ever. This drug might offer a path to reduce their symptoms to the point that they could communicate and possibly function in neurotypical society.

      Joke's on them. Once they have the ability, they'll find out that no one cares about their fears, frustrations, or desires anyway.

  3. Good news for Mice. by jellomizer · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How about people?

    --
    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    1. Re:Good news for Mice. by Opportunist · · Score: 2

      Good news for them too, autistic mice can really be a pest.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:Good news for Mice. by Jason+Levine · · Score: 2

      I'm the parent of a child with Autism (albeit High Functioning Autism/Asperger's Syndrome) and know plenty of parents of children with more severe Autism. None of us would rather our children be dead (of vaccine preventable illness or anything else) than have Autism.

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
  4. Godsend by jklovanc · · Score: 4, Insightful

    As someone with Aspergers Syndrome this would be a godsend for me. There are many times where my adrenaline level is far above what is needed for the situation. It is extremely frustrating when most of my body is in full fight/flight response and there is a small voice in the back of my head saying "chill out dude, it's not that important". The problem is that the adrenal response usually overrides the cognitive response and bad things happen.

    I just hope it does not impact the good things about autism such as the heightened ability to find and keep track of details.

    1. Re:Godsend by jklovanc · · Score: 3, Informative

      It's a heightened stress response on a cellular level to cellular stresses.

      I am hoping that the reduction in cell stress response will have a similar reduction in adrenal stress response.

      If you diagnosed yourself, you definitely don't have Asperger's Syndrome.

      I was diagnosed by a psychologist and expert in Autism and Asperger's Syndrome. I actually get a tax deduction due to it.

    2. Re:Godsend by king+neckbeard · · Score: 2

      Furthermore, not everyone in the world considers the latest version of the DSM to be the ultimate authority on the subject.

      --
      This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
    3. Re:Godsend by jklovanc · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Sorry but you theories do not match my experience.

      "Aspergers Syndrome" diagnosis is clearly out of control when someone with some nervousness or anxiety is suddenly a "syndrome".

      You also clearly do not understand the difference between a behaviour and a disorder. A disorder is a behaviour that gets in the way of doing things you want to do. Nervousness is a behaviour. Nervousness to the point that one can not carry on a conversation is a disability. You also have no idea what I experience. A barely controllable rage response in the face of a minor confrontation is far from "some nervousness or anxiety".

      You remove the fear, you remove your "abilities" too.

      I disagree. I use many of my "different" talents when I feel no anxiety at all. In fact, my ability to find and follow detail works best when I am calm.

      They have nothing to do with Autism.

      Anxiety is one small part of Autism and may or may not be present in all people on the Autism spectrum. There are may other symptoms and behaviours that make up the diagnosis.

    4. Re:Godsend by jklovanc · · Score: 3, Informative

      If you don't mind me asking, how much did a diagnosis cost?

      I live in Canada so the diagnosis was free. It just took time to find a specialist.

      As we were doing research about it, I realized all these books were talking about me also.

      Aspergers has a strong genetic link. This has been a barrier to diagnosis as many parents have been reluctant to admit they are "different" too.

    5. Re:Godsend by Atrox666 · · Score: 2

      I don't know if I'd take this drug. I'm over 40 and have learned to manage the downsides. I've also learned to use the super powers associated with mild cases of ASD.
      I've had to learn to override the adrenal response which gives me the ability to act when most people just freeze up(e.g. artillery strike). I'm always having a stress reaction when I'm outside my own head so a little more doesn't really matter that much. I doubt it would fix my voice modulation (flat affect)and other mannerisms that have been ingrained. I wish you could try it before making it permanent.

  5. Re:Why reverse? Increase!! by jeffmflanagan · · Score: 2

    No, we can't treat with a goal of normality, but we can shoot for the goal of maximising happiness and increasing people's ability to not only function, but to excel in whatever environment they're in.

  6. Re:Where the fuck did people get the idea that.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    When I have a teenaged nephew who can't form coherent sentences on a regular basis let alone ever live an independent life? Yeah, I think I get to represent his condition as something being wrong.
     
    That's fine if you have this condition (or whatever you'd like to call it) and you're OK with the quality of your life but don't be making that decision for others. I have a bad hip, do you think it would be "wrong" of me to condemn anyone else who has a bad hip who's ready to seek medical treatment to make their life's situation easier for them? Or how about someone with Parkinson's? What about someone who is Bipolar? Where do you get off making the decision for others as to when their life works for them?
     
    How about you stop trying to hunt for ways to make people who want to alter their life's condition via the use of medications seem like they're wrong for not embracing what makes them "unique and special"?

  7. Re: Big problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    What if adrenal cortex damage is the mechanism of action and not a side effect? Overactive HPA axis does contribute to autism symptoms...

  8. Does it come by WormholeFiend · · Score: 5, Funny

    in the form of a vaccine?

  9. Re:Where the fuck did people get the idea that.... by jythie · · Score: 2

    There is a lot of grey area in between that has many ASD people worried. When the public face of autism awareness is often groups like Autism Speaks (which does not actually have any autistic leaders) that mostly exist to frighten parents into helping eradicate autism, non neurotypicals are not entirely out of line for worrying that if such treatments become possible people like them (many of whom are fully functioning members of society) might no longer exist due to parents not wanting their children to have this 'horrible life destroying condition'.

  10. Re:Where the fuck did people get the idea that.... by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's one thing to be "unique".

    It's a completely different one to be SO "unique" that others shun you for being "weird", with you not even knowing WHY you are. And that you only get "weirder" if you try to mimic them to blend in somehow.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  11. Re:Where the fuck did people get the idea that.... by jklovanc · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I have Asperger's Syndrome and "normal" is not my goal. In fact, if I was neurotypical I would not be as skilled a programmer. I would like to control the situations where the Asperger's gets in the way of doing something I want to do. Too many time by body has been in full fight/flight and a small voice in my mind has said "Chill out dude. It not that important". The fight response has lost me a few jobs. Controlling the extremes is far from being "normal".

  12. Re:As someone with autism, by radtea · · Score: 3, Informative

    From TFA: "Second, suramin is a poor drug choice for chronic use because of potentially toxic side effects that can occur with prolonged treatment."

    And from the Wikipedia page on the drug (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suramin#Adverse_reactions):

    The most frequent adverse reactions are nausea and vomiting. About 90% of patients will get an urticarial rash that disappears in a few days without needing to stop treatment. There is a greater than 50% chance of adrenal cortical damage, but only a smaller proportion will require lifelong corticosteroid replacement. It is common for patients to get a tingling or crawling sensation of the skin with suramin. Suramin will cause clouding of the urine which is harmless: patients should be warned of this to avoid them becoming alarmed.

    Kidney damage and exfoliative dermatitis occur less commonly.

    Suramin has been applied clinically to HIV/AIDS patients resulting in a significant number of fatal occurrences and as a result the application of this molecule was abandoned for this condition.

    So while this is an important piece of work that identifies purine metabolism as a critical set of pathways related to ASD, it should be viewed primarily as a starting point for a more precisely targeted drug that will have the same effect on the pathways that matter without also messing up the ones that cause the side-effects.

    --
    Blasphemy is a human right. Blasphemophobia kills.
  13. Re:How USA differs from Canada by jklovanc · · Score: 2

    There is the EITC.

    Earned Income Tax Credit EITC is available to disabled taxpayers as well as to the parents of a child with a disability.If you retired on disability, taxable benefits you receive under your employer’s disability retirement plan are considered earned income until you reach minimum retirement age. The EITC is a tax credit that not only reduces a taxpayer’s tax liability but may also result in a refund. Many working individuals with a disability who have no qualifying children, but are older than 25 and younger than 65 do -- in fact -- qualify for EITC. Additionally, if the taxpayer’s child is disabled, the age limitation for the EITC is waived. The EITC has no effect on certain public benefits. Any refund you receive because of the EITC will not be considered income when determining whether you are eligible for benefit programs such as Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid.

    Note the bolded sentence.

  14. Peer reviewed research on neuroatypical talent by tlambert · · Score: 4, Informative

    Not the original poster, but here you go...

    What aspects of autism predispose to talent?
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pu...

    Talent in autism: hyper-systemizing, hyper-attention to detail and sensory hypersensitivity
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pu...

    Enhanced perception in savant syndrome: patterns, structure and creativity.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pu...

    The savant syndrome: intellectual impairment and exceptional skill.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pu...

    Comparing the intelligence profiles of savant and nonsavant individuals with autistic disorder
    http://www.sciencedirect.com/s...