title: Pharmacotherapy for the core symptoms in autistic disorder: current status of the research.
abstract: The current review covers extant literature on pharmacotherapy for core symptoms of autism. The core symptoms of autism include impairments in social interaction and communication, as well as the presence of restricted and repetitive behaviors. There are no known efficacious treatments for the core social symptoms, although effects on repetitive behaviors are indicated with some data. While studies of fenfluramine, secretin, opiates, and mood stabilizers generally find no effect, mixed results suggest more research is needed on antidepressants and atypical antipsychotics. Newer lines of research, including cholinergic and glutamatergic agents and oxytocin, will be of considerable interest in the future. However, research on the treatment of core symptoms is plagued by limitations in study design, statistical power, and other issues inherent to the study of treatments for autism (e.g., heterogeneity of the disorder) that continue to prevent the elucidation of efficacious treatments.
authors.affiliation: Pediatrics and Developmental Neuroscience Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, 10 Center Drive MSC 1255, Building 10, Room 1C250, Bethesda, MD, 20892-1255, USA. farmerca@mail.nih.gov
authors.forename: Cristan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Farmer
authors.forename: Audrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thurm
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Grant
mesh_terms: D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy*; D035843:Biomedical Research; D018678:Cholinergic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018683:Excitatory Amino Acid Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D018678:Cholinergic Agents; D018683:Excitatory Amino Acid Agents; D010121:Oxytocin