title: A systematic review of secretin for children with autism spectrum disorders.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  As many as 1 in every 110 children in the United States has an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Secretin is 1 of many medical treatments studied for treating the symptoms of ASDs, but there is currently no consensus regarding which interventions are most effective.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To systematically review evidence regarding the use of secretin in children with ASDs who are aged 12 years and younger.
  
  
  METHODS
  We searched the Medline, PsycINFO, and ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) databases from 2000 to May 2010 and reference lists of included articles. Two reviewers independently assessed each study against predetermined inclusion/exclusion criteria. Two reviewers independently extracted data regarding participant and intervention characteristics, assessment techniques, and outcomes and assigned overall quality and strength-of-evidence ratings on the basis of predetermined criteria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Evidence from 7 randomized controlled trials supports a lack of effectiveness of secretin for the treatment of ASD symptoms including language and communication impairment, symptom severity, and cognitive and social skill deficits. No studies have resulted in significantly greater improvements in measures of language, cognition, or autistic symptoms when compared with placebo; study authors who reported improvement over time did so equally for both the intervention and placebo groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Secretin has been studied extensively in multiple randomized controlled trials, and there is clear evidence that it lacks benefit. The studies of secretin included in this review uniformly point to a lack of significant impact of secretin in the treatment of ASD symptoms. Given the high strength of evidence for a lack of effectiveness, secretin as a treatment approach for ASDs warrants no further study.
authors.affiliation: 2525 West End Ave, Suite 600, 6th Floor, Nashville, TN 37203-1738, USA. melissa.mcpheeters@vanderbilt.edu
authors.forename: Shanthi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Krishnaswami
authors.forename: Melissa L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: McPheeters
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Veenstra-Vanderweele
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012633:Secretin / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D012633:Secretin