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Florent Chapel, co-president of Autism Info Service
The National Institute of Health and Medical Research published on June 16 a review of its latest advances in terms of treating the symptoms of autism spectrum disorders. A study on bromide ions, still in the trial phase, looks promising.
Behind the name of ASD, autism spectrum disorders, hide many peculiarities of neuro-development which would affect approximately 700,000 people in France. Disorders that usually result in impaired social interactions, communication problems, behavioral disturbances, and/or unusual sensory reactions.
While there is currently no treatment to specifically target autism, management is possible and research is very active in this area. It is in this context that INSERM has just published an inventory of current studies. Still in the trial phase, that on the use of bromide ions would have undeniable beneficial effects.
A drug already used in epilepsy
A new study, conducted by researchers from Inserm, CNRS, Inrae and the University of Tours has indeed published encouraging results on these bromide ions already used in the treatment of epilepsy resistant to conventional treatments. “Epilepsy is a frequently found comorbidity in people with ASD: it is likely that certain risk factors and pathophysiological processes are common. The scientists therefore felt that it could be interesting to study more particularly the effectiveness of this treatment in the context of ASD. refers to the press release.
Indeed, in the case of epilepsy, bromide ions contribute to correcting the imbalance between the phenomena of excitation and inhibition in the neuronal circuits by promoting inhibition, which makes it possible to avoid seizures. Can a similar effect be expected in cases of ASD? The study aimed to test this hypothesis.
A conclusive trial on three mouse models
The designed treatment was administered to three mouse models that had different genetic mutations responsible for the autistic phenotype. On each of them, the bromide ions obtained beneficial effects on the symptoms and the behavior of the animals:
- Restored social behavior;
- A decrease in stereotyped behavior;
- A decrease in anxiety.
“The fact that beneficial effects are observed in three different models allows for a little more confidence in the ability of the treatment to be generalizable to several subgroups of autistic individuals in future clinical trials.emphasize the CNRS researchers, the latest authors of the study.
The project leads to the filing of two patents on bromide ions which should allow a decisive next step: a clinical trial on a small number of adult patients.
“We hope that eventually effective symptomatic treatments will be discovered”
Asked about this progress, Florent Chapel, spokesperson for the Collectif Autisme, acknowledges that it could be a step forward but prefers to remain cautious given the preliminary nature of the studies: “I follow all the scientific advances on the subject, they fascinate me. Such announcements by serious teams like Inserm do not happen every day. Nevertheless, there is no point in going too fast. It is a phase 2, let’s wait for the conclusions of phase 3 and 4. We indeed have the hope that in the long term, effective symptomatic treatments will be discovered. Teams are working in this direction. But let’s not get carried away at this stage. hope gives life, but, for now, hope does not heal yet“.