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The effect of oxytocin nasal spray on social interaction deficits observed in young children with autism: a randomized clinical crossover trial

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TLDR
This study is the first clinical trial to support the potential of oxytocin as an early intervention for young children with autism to help improve social interaction deficits and nasal spray was well tolerated.
Abstract
Interventions for autism are limited. The synthetic hormone oxytocin may provide a potential treatment to improve core social and behavioral difficulties in autism, but its efficacy has yet to be evaluated in young children who potentially may benefit to a greater extent. We investigated the efficacy, tolerability and safety of oxytocin treatment in young children with autism using a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover, clinical trial. Thirty-one children with autism received 12 International Units (IU) of oxytocin and placebo nasal spray morning and night (24 IU per day) for 5 weeks, with a 4-week washout period between each treatment. Compared with placebo, oxytocin led to significant improvements on the primary outcome of caregiver-rated social responsiveness. Overall, nasal spray was well tolerated, and the most common reported adverse events were thirst, urination and constipation. This study is the first clinical trial to support the potential of oxytocin as an early intervention for young children with autism to help improve social interaction deficits.

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An Overview of Autism Spectrum Disorder, Heterogeneity and Treatment Options

TL;DR: This review provides a broad overview of the history, prevalence, etiology, clinical presentation, and heterogeneity of ASD and explores the potential of a new wave of research examining objective biomarkers to facilitate the evaluation of sub-typing, diagnosis, and treatment response in ASD.
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Gut instincts: microbiota as a key regulator of brain development, ageing and neurodegeneration

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Autism Spectrum Disorder: Classification, diagnosis and therapy

TL;DR: Developing novel disease‐modifying therapies may prove to be the ultimate intervention for sustained improvement of symptoms in ASD.
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Intranasal oxytocin treatment for social deficits and biomarkers of response in children with autism

TL;DR: Findings indicate that OXT treatment enhances social abilities in children with ASD and that individuals with pretreatment OXT signaling deficits may stand to benefit the most from Oxt treatment.
References
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Oxytocin increases trust in humans

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Journal ArticleDOI

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