Japanese Journal of Biological Psychiatry
Online ISSN : 2186-6465
Print ISSN : 2186-6619
Development of therapeutics for autism spectrum disorder core symptoms with oxytocin : uncovering mechanisms of time‐course change in the efficacy
Hidenori Yamasue
Author information
JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS

2022 Volume 33 Issue 2 Pages 63-66

Details
Abstract
Discrepancies in the efficacy between single‐dose and repeated administrations of oxytocin on autism spectrum disorder (ASD) indicate a time‐course change in efficacy. However, the hypothesis cannot be tested without a repeatable, objective, and quantitative measurement of the core symptoms of ASD. The author’s research group comprehensively examined our single‐site exploratory (n=18, crossover) and multi‐site confirmatory (n=106, parallel‐group) , double‐blind, placebo‐controlled trials of six weeks intranasal oxytocin in men with ASD. The outcome was statistical representative values of the objectively quantified facial expression intensity during a semi‐structured social interaction in Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) . The quantitative facial expression analyses on data from two independent clinical trials successfully detect and verify the therapeutic effect of repeated administrations of intranasal oxytocin on autistic feature in facial expressions during social interaction. Furthermore, for the first time, the recent study demonstrated a time‐course change in the efficacy : a deterioration during repetitive administration phase and a preservation during post‐treatment phase. Together with our recent studies regarding neural and molecular mechanisms of deterioration of oxytocin’s efficacy, the findings are expected to promote further development of optimization of objective, quantitative, and repeatable outcome measure for autistic social deficits and to establish optimized regimen of oxytocin treatment on ASD.
Content from these authors
© 2022 Japanese Society of Biological Psychiatry
Previous article Next article
feedback
Top