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A Double-blind Placebo Controlled Trial of Piracetam Added to Risperidone in Patients with Autistic Disorder

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Abstract

It has been reported that autism is a hypoglutamatergic disorder. Therefore, it was of interest to assess the efficacy of piracetam, a positive modulator of AMPA-sensitive glutamate receptors in autistic disorder. About 40 children between the ages three and 11 years (inclusive) with a DSM IV clinical diagnosis of autism and who were outpatients from a specialty clinic for children were recruited. The children presented with a chief complaint of severely disruptive symptoms related to autistic disorder. Patients were randomly allocated to piracetam + risperidone (Group A) or placebo + risperidone (Group B) for a 10-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. The dose of risperidone was titrated up to 2 mg/day for children between 10 and 40 kg and 3 mg/day for children weighting above 40 kg. The dose of piracetam was titrated up to 800 mg/day. Patients were assessed at baseline and after 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 weeks of starting medication. The measure of the outcome was the Aberrant Behavior Checklist-Community (ABC-C) Rating Scale (total score). The ABC-C Rating Scale scores improved with piracetam. The difference between the two protocols was significant as indicated by the effect of group, the between subjects factor (F = 5.85, d.f. = 1, P = 0.02). The changes at the endpoint compared with baseline were: −11.90 ± 3.79 (mean ± SD) and −5.15 ± 3.04 for group A and B respectively. A significant difference was observed on the change in scores in the ABC-C Rating Scale in week 10 compared with baseline in the two groups (t = 6.017, d.f. = 38, P < 0.0001). The results suggest that a combination of atypical antipsychotic medications and a glutamate agent such as piracetam, might have increase synergistic effects in the treatment of autism.

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Acknowledgments

This study was Dr. Hamid Tajdar’s postgraduate thesis and was supported by a grant from Tehran University of Medical Sciences. The authors would like to thank to the staff of Pharmacy of Roozbeh Psychiatric Hospital.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychiatric Research Center, Roozbeh Psychiatric Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, South Kargar Street, Tehran, 13337, Iran

    Shahin Akhondzadeh, Hamid Tajdar & Mohammad-Reza Mohammadi

  2. Faculty of Medicine, Azad University, Tehran, Iran

    Mohammad Mohammadi

  3. Department of Psychiatry, Jondi Shapour University of Medical Sciences, Ahwaz, Iran

    Gholam-Hossein Nouroozinejad

  4. Reproductive Biology, Biotechnology and Infertility Research Center, Avesina Research Institute, Tehran, Iran

    Omid L. Shabstari

  5. Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Hossein-Ali Ghelichnia

Authors
  1. Shahin Akhondzadeh
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  2. Hamid Tajdar
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  3. Mohammad-Reza Mohammadi
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  4. Mohammad Mohammadi
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  5. Gholam-Hossein Nouroozinejad
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  6. Omid L. Shabstari
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  7. Hossein-Ali Ghelichnia
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Correspondence to Shahin Akhondzadeh.

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Akhondzadeh, S., Tajdar, H., Mohammadi, MR. et al. A Double-blind Placebo Controlled Trial of Piracetam Added to Risperidone in Patients with Autistic Disorder. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 39, 237–245 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-007-0084-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-007-0084-3

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