A recent study shows that an epilepsy drug sold for $3 a pill can be used to “turn off,” ie reverse, or stop, autism symptoms in mice.
The groundbreaking discovery comes from a recent peer-reviewed study published Tuesday in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.
In Quebec, autism spectrum disorders affect approximately 76,000 people.
A team of experts from the Hector Institute for Translational Brain Research (HITBR), Germany, found that the drug lamotrigine is able to reduce behavioral and social problems associated with this disorder.
Their results are now being touted as the closest to a potential treatment for humans.
“Apparently, drug treatment in adulthood can attenuate brain cell dysfunction and thus counter the behavioral abnormalities typical of autism,” lead researcher and cell biologist Moritz Mall said in a statement.
Lamotrigine, which is notably sold under the brand name Lamictal, is a medicine used to treat epilepsy and stabilize the mood of people suffering from bipolar disorder.
The drug, which typically sells for just under $3 a pill, works by reversing brain cell changes caused by a genetic mutation.
Scientists have spent years intensively researching the molecular abnormalities that contribute to ASDs and have identified the protein MYT1L as playing a role in various neuronal diseases.
To test the protein’s impact on autism symptoms, HITBR researchers genetically ‘turned off’ MYT1L in mice and human nerve cells. They found that this led to electrophysiological hyperactivation in mouse and human neurons, impairing nerve function.
Mice lacking MYT1L suffered from brain abnormalities and exhibited several behavioral changes typical of ASDs, such as social deficits or hyperactivity.
“When MYT1L-deficient nerve cells were treated with lamotrigine, their electrophysiological activity returned to normal. In mice, the drug even helped curb behaviors associated with ASDs, such as hyperactivity,” the statement continued.