Clinical case report: opiate antagonist and event-related desynchronization in 2 autistic boys

Autism Case Report: Cause and Treatment of "High Opioid Tone" Autism

Introduction: Neurobiological systems engineering models are useful for treating patients. We show a model of “high opioid tone” autism and present a hypothesis about how autism is caused by administration of opioids during childbirth.

Main Symptoms: Clinical diagnosis of autism in a 25 year old man was confirmed by a Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) self-rating of 79, severe, and a Social Communications Questionnaire (SCQ-2) by the patient's father scoring 27. Cold pressor time (CPT) was 190 seconds—unusually long, consonant with the high pain tolerance of autism.

Therapeutic Intervention and Outcomes: At naltrexone 50 mg/day SRS fell to 54 and SCQ-−2–9; both non-significant. CPT fell to 28, repeat 39 s. Improved relatedness was experienced ambivalently, understood as feelings never before experienced—causing pain. Non-compliance with naltrexone was followed by cutting open his palm and drinking alcoholically. Transference focused psychotherapy has helped him remain naltrexone—compliant while he works on issues of identity and relatedness.

Conclusion: The model suggests studies that could be conducted to both prevent and treat this form of autism.

Further studies on the Dmt-Tic pharmacophore: hydrophobic substituents at the C-terminus endow delta antagonists to manifest mu agonism or mu antagonism

Twenty N- and/or C-modified Dmt-Tic analogues yielded similar K(i) values with either [(3)H]DPDPE (delta(1) agonist) or [(3)H]N, N(Me)(2)-Dmt-Tic-OH (delta antagonist). N-Methylation enhanced delta antagonism while N-piperidine-1-yl, N-pyrrolidine-1-yl, and N-pyrrole-1-yl were detrimental. Dmt-Tic-X (X = -NHNH(2), -NHCH(3), -NH-1-adamantyl, -NH-tBu, -NH-5-tetrazolyl) had high delta affinities (K(i) = 0.16 to 1 nM) with variable mu affinities to yield nonselective or weakly mu-selective analogues. N, N-(Me)(2)Dmt-Tic-NH-1-adamantane exhibited dual delta and mu receptor affinities (K(i)delta = 0.16 nM and K(i)mu = 1.12 nM) and potent delta antagonism (pA(2) = 9.06) with mu agonism (IC(50) = 16 nM). H-Dmt-betaHTic-OH (methylene bridge between C(alpha) of Tic and carboxylate function) yielded a biostable peptide with high delta affinity (K(i) = 0.85 nM) and delta antagonism (pA(2) = 8.85) without mu bioactivity. Dmt-Tic-Ala-X (X = -NHCH(3), -OCH(3), -NH-1-adamantyl, -NHtBu) exhibited high delta affinities (K(i) = 0.06 to 0.2 nM) and elevated mu affinities (K(i) = 2.5 to 11 nM), but only H-Dmt-Tic-Ala-NH-1-adamantane and H-Dmt-Tic-Ala-NHtBu yielded delta receptor antagonism (pA(2) = 9.29 and 9.16, respectively). Thus, Dmt-Tic with hydrophobic C-terminal substituents enhanced mu affinity to provide delta antagonists with dual receptor affinities and bifunctional activity.

The neurobiology of social play behavior in rats

Social play behavior is one of the earliest forms of non-mother-directed social behavior appearing in ontogeny in mammalian species. During the last century, there has been a lot of debate on the significance of social play behavior, but behavioral studies have indicated that social play behavior is a separate and relevant category of behavior. The present review provides a comprehensive survey of studies on the neurobiology of social play behavior. Evidence is presented that opioid and dopamine systems play a role in the reward aspect of social play behavior. The role of cholinergic, noradrenergic and opioid systems in attentional processes underlying the generation of social play behavior and the involvement of androgens in the sexual differentiation of social play behavior in rats is summarized. It is concluded that there is not only behavioral, but also neurobiological evidence to suggest that social play behavior represents a separate category of behavior, instead of a precursor for adult social, sexual or aggressive behavior.

Endogenous opiates: 1995

This article is the eighteenth installment of our annual review of research concerning the opiate system. It includes articles published during 1995 reporting the behavioral effects of the opiate peptides and antagonists, excluding the purely analgesic effects. The specific topics covered this year include stress: tolerance and dependence; eating; drinking; gastrointestinal, renal, and hepatic function; mental illness and mood; learning, memory, and reward; cardiovascular responses; respiration and thermoregulation; seizures and other neurological disorders; electrical-related activity; general activity and locomotion; sex, pregnancy, and development; immunological responses; and other behaviors.