Old drug treats autism by SIGNYM

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Old drug treats autism

POSTED BY: SIGNYM
UPDATED: Thursday, June 22, 2017 20:42
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Friday, June 16, 2017 12:47 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Did that get your attention?

A drug used for sleeping sickness ... suramin ... improved performance and reduced autistic behaviors in five autistic boys, compared to five boys treated with a placebo.

The theory behind the drug is as follows:

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the key ingredient which powers the chemical reactions in our cells that make up "life". It is an essential ingredient to our cells, as long as it's INSIDE our cells.

However, if there is free-floating ATP OUTSIDE of the cells (for example, as may be released by damaged/ ruptured cells nearby) and it latches onto the outside of the cell membrane, it sets off a "chemical alarm" that causes cell membrane stiffening and cellular dysfunction.

The researcher who tested this drug, Dr. Robert K. Naviaux, (MD, PhD) hypothesized that this was one of the key mechanisms of autism, and tested suramin - which blocks ATP from latching on to the outside of the cell wall - to see if would help the patients recover function.

According to the parents of the children and the people who tested them the results were "dramatic".

However, the benefits faded after a few weeks.

This is an interesting "proof of concept" test that will need to be repeated in order to verify its positive effects.

IF the drug is found to be beneficial, it does bolster the "cellular alarm" hypothesis, but leads to more questions:

Since the 'alarm' seems to be ongoing (reasserts itself after a few weeks) WHAT is causing the "alarm" to go off?

UCSD article here
https://health.ucsd.edu/news/releases/Pages/2017-05-26-century-old-dru
g-potential-new-approach-to-autism.aspx

Forbes commentary here
https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilywillingham/2017/06/04/lets-talk-abou
t-that-new-hope-drug-for-autism/#1a2de7122779

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Thursday, June 22, 2017 8:42 PM

JEWELSTAITEFAN

Always excellent to make progress.

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