Citation

Lewis AS, van Schalkwyk GI, Lopez MO, Volkmar FR, Picciotto MR, Sukhodolsky DG. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 2018; 48(8): 2748-2757.

Affiliation

Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10803-018-3536-7

PMID

29536216

Abstract

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), particularly the α7 nAChR, are implicated in the pathophysiology of both autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and aggressive behavior. We explored the feasibility, tolerability, and preliminary efficacy of targeting nAChRs using transdermal nicotine to reduce aggressive symptoms in adults with ASD. Eight subjects were randomized in a double-blind crossover trial of 7 mg transdermal nicotine or placebo, each for 1 week. All participants tolerated nicotine treatment well. Five subjects contributed data to the primary outcome, Aberrant Behavior Checklist-Irritability (ABC-I) subscale change from baseline, which was improved by nicotine compared to placebo. Sleep ratings were also improved by nicotine and correlated with ABC-I improvement. These findings support further investigation of nAChR agonists for aggression and sleep in ASD.

Language: en

Keywords

Adult; Aggression; Autism spectrum disorder; Irritability; Nicotine; Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor; Sleep