PLT Test Blog

  A festive queue at the pharmacy for Glutamate Inhibitors We have now established that much autism and indeed other disorders, from Down Syndrome to Schizophrenia, features a degree of excitatory/inhibitory (E/I) imbalance. It is very likely that there are multiple underlying causes for this and so there may be multiple treatments.   We can even potentially use a treatment for one cause (ALS) to improve outcomes in others.   So we can (partially) solve a problem without fully understanding its origin, as frequently is the case in biology. An E/I imbalance might cause anxiety in the adult with Asperger (treatable with Baclofen), contribute to MR/ID in the child with Down Syndrome and contribute to seizures and cognitive loss in someone with severe autism. Very interestingly in the comments to a previous post, Agnieszka has pointed out why common penicillin type antibiotics (beta-lactams) improve many people’s autism.   This is very common observation and our other gu...

Clonidine has been used for more than half a century as an antihypertensive drug, to lower blood pressure. It later found favour as a treatment for ADHD, drug withdrawal treatment, tobacco withdrawal treatment and a wide range of psychiatric disorders.   Off label usage of Clonidine includes autism. Until recently it appeared to researchers to be a centrally acting α 2 adrenergic agonist , but recent research indicates than instead it is a centrally as an imidazoline receptor agonist.   This would account for its actions other than lowering blood pressure. Maybe it is both.   The good thing is that it is centrally acting (i.e. acting on the brain and the CNS) and it does appear to work.   Adrenergic Agonist As a centrally-acting α-adrenergic receptor agonist , Clonidine has more affinity for α 2 than α 1 . It selectively stimulates receptors in the brain that monitor catecholamine ( epinephrine , norepinephrine and dopamine ) levels in the blood. These receptors ...

Poly Genetic Theory of Autism Autism appears to be the result of the expression of multiple abnormal genes acting in concert, likely initiated by some external factor(s).   This would explain why there are so many variants of autism and why there can seem to be autistic-like traits in close relatives.     Gene-based Autism Research Several candidate genes have been identified, such as those linked to fragile X syndrome, tuberous sclerosis etc.   Researchers then follow the science from the target gene to identify a possible therapy.   At this point the researchers then seem to lose their scientific logic; they then try and apply their new therapy to all kinds of autism, i.e. the ones without the “faulty gene”. This really goes back to our current limited understanding of the brain, medicine is more art than science, and we should perhaps suspend logic and accept this trial and error approach as valid.  At least call it trial an...