Single Dose Intranasal Oxytocin and Cognitive Effects in Autism
Status:
Active, not recruiting
Trial end date:
2020-12-31
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of severe, life-long developmental disorders.
Oxytocin (OT) is a neurohormone involved in both repetitive/rigid and social behaviors. This
study is focusing on how a single dose of intranasal OT (IN-OT) affects cognitive rigidity
and social perception tasks. Taking OT as a spray through the nose increases social and
decreases repetitive behavior in some adults with ASD, and we are exploring if it helps
children with ASD similarly. However, it is unclear whether every person with ASD has an
abnormal OT level, and if OT affects restrictive or social behavior differently.
Consequently, we aim to study whether OT treatment can be effective in treating subgroups
with specific features of ASD. We will use approaches utilizing both behavioral and
physiological responses to clarify the role of OT in ASD. We will develop a deeper
understanding of the range of social and rigid behaviors and use that information to identify
persons with ASD who would benefit from OT treatment. Potential subjects will be asked if
they want to participate in two sessions in our clinical laboratory where they will get
either single dose IN-OT or placebo. After receiving the substance, they will be asked to do
a handful of tasks while we monitor heart rate, eye movements, and collect baseline and post
intranasal blood, urine and saliva. The levels of hormones, metabolites and peptides related
to or interacting with OT will be measures in the collected samples of blood plasma, urine
and saliva. Additionally DNA will be extracted from the blood samples to study genes related
to OT and ASD.
Phase:
Phase 2
Details
Lead Sponsor:
University of Minnesota University of Minnesota - Clinical and Translational Science Institute