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A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Blinded, Crossover, Pilot Study of the Effects of Dextromethorphan/Quinidine for the Treatment of Neurobehavioral Symptoms in Adults with Autism

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Abstract

Prior studies have demonstrated successful irritability treatment using dopaminergic antagonists in autistic patients. The purpose of this pilot study was to assess the effect of dextromethorphan/quinidine (DM/Q) in autistic adults (18–60 years of age). This was a randomized, blinded, crossover, study of 14 patients randomized to DM/Q or a placebo for 8 weeks, washed out for 4 weeks, then crossed over to the opposite treatment. There were no serious adverse events. Subjects were significantly lower on the Aberrant Behavioral Checklist for Irritability (ABC-IR) (F1,10 = 7.42; p = 0.021). Improvements in aggression and Clinical Global Impression were also seen. The findings suggest that DM/Q is well-tolerated and associated with improvements in irritability and aggression in adults with autism.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by an investigator initiated research Grant from Avanir Corporation (Grant No. 947135-1107629).

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Author notes

  1. Christopher Lepage

    Present address: Northwest Passage, Webster, WI, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sutter Neuroscience Institute, Sacramento, CA, USA

    Michael Chez, Shawn Kile & Christopher Lepage

  2. Sutter Institute for Medical Research, 2801 Capitol Ave Suite 400, Sacramento, CA, 95816, USA

    Carol Parise, Bobbie Benabides & Andrea Hankins

Authors
  1. Michael Chez
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  2. Shawn Kile
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  3. Christopher Lepage
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  4. Carol Parise
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Contributions

MC and SK participated in the conception and design, collection of data, manuscript writing, final approval of manuscript. CL participated in the conception and design, collection of data, final approval of manuscript. CP participated in the conception and design, data analysis and interpretation, manuscript writing, final approval of manuscript. BB participated in the collection of data. AH participated in the data analysis and interpretation, manuscript writing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Carol Parise.

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Conflict of interest

Dr. Michael Chez has been a speaker for pediatric epilepsy issues for Eisai, Lundbeck, UCB, and Sunnovion for the past 2 years. No other authors have any conflicts of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed were in conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Chez, M., Kile, S., Lepage, C. et al. A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Blinded, Crossover, Pilot Study of the Effects of Dextromethorphan/Quinidine for the Treatment of Neurobehavioral Symptoms in Adults with Autism. J Autism Dev Disord 50, 1532–1538 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-018-3703-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-018-3703-x

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