Define how oxytocin can contribute to the treatment of autism
2015/11/25 Agirre Ruiz de Arkaute, Aitziber - Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria
During trials with mice it has been proven that the release of oxytocin produces an increase in anandamide production. Anandamide is a neurotransmitter belonging to the group of endogenous cannabinoids that has shown that by increasing their quantity mice tend to interact socially. According to these results, people may have the same influence by releasing anandamide.
Researcher Olga Peñagarikano has been researching the neurobiological causes of autism for years in order to find treatments. In his opinion, “there is still no pharmacological treatment based on oxytocin to improve social behavior, but one of the most hopeful therapies for autism is the manipulation of the oxytocin system”.
Precisely this improvement in social behavior can be key both in the oxytocin system and in the compounds that produce it, to open new avenues for future treatment of autism. In the words of Peñagarikano, “the most important thing about this work is that a new mechanism of social transformation of oxytocin has been found through the release of endocannabinoids”.
This pathway of oxytocin signaling, previously unknown, can have a great influence on diseases with communicative and social dysfunctions such as autism. In the words of Peñagaricano, “on the one hand, because it seems that a part of individuals with autism may have affected the pathway of signaling oxytocin, so here opens a new path of research. On the other hand, it can be a new target for the development of pharmacological therapies. Although we know that oxytocin transforms social behavior and that clinical trials conducted so far in autism have generally performed well, not all patients respond correctly and negative results have been observed. Therefore, it is important to know well the pathways of signaling oxytocin, determine its mechanism of action with respect to the different aspects of communicative and social behavior, to generate targeted therapies. Knowing the different mechanisms, we will know in which signaling pathways each patient has their dysfunction, which will lead us to more personalized therapies”.
