Guest guest Posted July 23, 2000 Report Share Posted July 23, 2000 Vancomycin Therapy Has Only Short-Term Benefit for Patients With Autism ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- By Reinberg WESTPORT, Jul 19 (Reuters Health) - Vancomycin administration to children with regressive-onset autism produces only short-term improvement in symptoms, according to a report in the July issue of the Journal of Child Neurology. Noting that some patients with regressive-onset autism had undergone repeated broad-spectrum antimicrobial therapy, usually for chronic otitis media, before developing autism, the researchers hypothesized that antibiotics had disrupted indigenous intestinal organisms, allowing colonization of neurotoxin-producing species. To test their hypothesis, Dr. H. Sandler from Rush Children's Hospital, Chicago, Illinois, and a multicenter team recruited 11 children with regressive-onset autism who had a history of antimicrobial therapy. The children were given vancomycin 500 mg per day for 8 weeks. Based on Wilcoxon Signed Rank Z-scores and other measures, during treatment with vancomycin, Dr. Sandler's group noted improvement in communication and behavior for the group as a whole. " Although improvement was clear by several measures, unfortunately these gains did not endure, " they say. When the parents of the children were telephoned 2 weeks after the end of the trial, most reported " substantial behavioral deterioration. " When the children were seen after 2 to 8 months, all but one had returned to baseline analog ratings. " We treated several kids after the trial for a longer period and they relapsed as well, " Dr. Sandler told Reuters Health. " My hypothesis is, " he said, " that there is a bug that is very tough to treat and that the medicine that we are using was only partially suppressing it. " Dr. Sandler and associates say in the journal that the " results of this preliminary study, along with previous reports of increased intestinal permeability and a 'nonspecific colitis' in children with autism, suggests a possible 'gut-brain' etiologic connection in a subset of these children. " The current conventional genetic model of autism, they note, cannot explain their findings. The team cautions that " the potential threat of vancomycin-resistant organisms must be seriously considered. " They urge, therefore, " that vancomycin not be used to treat autistic symptomatology outside of a study protocol. " " We have raised an intriguing possibility of an avenue to explore in an area in which there is so little or nothing currently offered, " Dr. Sandler noted. " To have intriguing bits of information about a possible connection that could lead to effective treatment at least in a subset of kids is, I think, worthy of attention. " J Child Neurol 2000;15:429-435. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Copyright © 2000 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. RECOMMENDED LINKS Neurology Pediatrics Pharmacotherapy Psychiatry ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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