Can ingovorin deal with autism?

At a press conference on September 22, the Trump administration presented what it says is a “exciting remedy” for autism: Leucovorin, a drug that is old that treats the toxic effects of chemotherapy. Early research indicates that it can be useful for a certain group of people with autism nervousness, although some medical experts say it is not completely ready to be widely used as management plans.

Here is what to know about leucovorin.

What is Leucovorin?

Leucovorin is a form of folic acid, which is an artificial form of folate (vitamin B9). Folic acid is important to help the body make DNA, red blood cells, hair cells, nails, skin cells, and others throughout the body. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Recommend All pregnant women or plans to get pregnant take daily folic acid supplements to avoid the nervous tube and fork defects in the developing. Folic acid is also important to prevent certain types of anemia.

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Some childhood cancers and adults are treated with methotrexate, a type of chemotherapy that can cause toxic effects on the body, especially for the kidneys, by interfering in the activity of normal folate in cells. Locovorine, or phonic acid, can face these effects by replacing folic acid and allowing folic acid in the body to continue working in the presence of metotoxite.

What is Leucovorin’s relationship with autism?

In recent years, scientists have stated that some children with autism have lower levels of folate in their brains, even while they have natural levels of folate in the rest of their bodies. Dr. Richard Frei, chief scientific official of the Autism Discovery and Treatment Corporation and the director of research at the Rosignol Medical Center, who studied the relationship between folic and neurological disorders for decades.

In some cases, people with low folic acid levels in the brain may have antibodies associated with folate receptors in the brain, which prevents folate ability to work in the brain. In 2005, researchers in the United States and Europe were published Ticket Connecting these antibodies to a deficiency of folic acid (CFD), which is a rare condition in which people are low levels of folate in the brain, which leads to some neurological symptoms including psychological slow and head growth, irritation, and non -voluntary or repeated movements. In this small study, the Volinic acid improved children’s symptoms.

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Other people with low folate levels in the brain have an abnormal mitochondria, which regulates energy in cells, which weaken cells’ ability to obtain folic acid. Some people also have genetic defects that produce wrong folate receptors.

In 2013, Frye was published small Ticket Show that children with autism as well as those with CFD can benefit from Leucovorin. In his study, up to 75 % of children with autism showed a deficiency in folic acid in the brain, and that children with lower levels of folate receptors in particular have improved their language, personal, social, and adaptation. Five years later, Fry confirmed these results in a Ticket Compare children to receive Leucovorin to a group of fake drugs.

I think [leucovorin] “It is a big step forward to treat many children and improve their ability to work. It is particularly leading that many of them do not believe that autism can be treated at its core. This treatment works to repair the basic biological impotence and thus it can be the disease modification. It is not a treatment, but it can improve the function of many children.”

Dr. Marti Macari, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said during the press conference that the agency had started the process to agree to the drug, which is now a year, to treat people with autism. However, the FDA statement He said the approval of the drug will be for people with CFD. While CFD can lead to symptoms similar to autism and delay growth, they differ from autism. Many people with CFD have autism, but not all people with autism have CFD.

How can you find out if a person with autism has low levels of folic acid in the brain?

Doctors can test the levels of folic acid in the brain with a cotton hole (also known as the spine) to detect folic acid levels in the spicy fluid. They can also test antibodies against folic acid in the blood by testing antibodies to folate receptors (FRAT), which is not part of routine blood.

Did Leucovorin agree to treat autism?

The drug is approved only to treat the effects of chemotherapy. But with the latest FDA procedures, doctors can prescribe it to CFD. Macari said during the press conference: “Unification may also be due to the interaction of autoimmune for folate receptors on the brain. It does not allow important vitamin to enter brain cells,” Makari said during the press conference. “We have the duty to allow doctors and the public to know that we will change the poster to make it available. Hundreds of thousands of children, in my opinion, will benefit.”

The branded version of the medicine, which was originally made by GSK, was released in the early eighties, but the company stopped marketing it in 1999, and the FDA (FDA) withdrew approval. Public publications have appeared since then, and some doctors began to prescribe them outside the poster for autism patients. The Food and Drug Administration is now working with GSK to re -introduce the drug with its new CFD index.

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Frye believes that data so far supports Leucovorin’s description of autism, especially since there are few treatments. “I personally will not consider it experimental,” he says. “I would like to describe it as a good evidence that it is effective.” He says that the drug should not be a treatment from the first line, but it should come after interventions such as speech and professional treatment, and after treating behavioral problems, sleep and intestine.

Free says it works to create a company to develop a copy of Leucovorin more suitable for children with autism – a colorless, tasty, no smell and can be given in a liquid, because some children may suffer from birth control pills.

Is there enough evidence that Leucovorin works for autism?

Not everyone in this field has the same confidence in the data. Leucovorin has not yet been ready to become an autism treatment. “I think it is incredibly too early to say that Leucovorin is more than just a possible idea that has not yet obtained any real scientific data,” she says. “Most of the autistic experts I know will not describe leucovorin and will not advise [families] To take it.

Halladai says that there is no sufficient safety data about the drug in children – much less than children with autism, who may suffer from additional medical problems – and some anecdotal reports that you find that Leucovorin can make some children with autism more active. “The truth is that we do not have safety data yet. We need larger studies.” Another unknown is the time when children will need to take the medicine, as long -term studies have not been conducted. (Free says, “Children who respond, appear to be a long -term treatment.”

Halladai also notes that the new interest in Leucovorin may transform the limited resources, such as financing research and clinical trial support, away from the most powerful study strategies for more autism, such as behavioral interventions or other drug methods, which may have stronger scientific support.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has expressed similar concern about the risk of excessive treatment. “With regard to autism, we know that he is very complex and variable and is increasingly associated with heredity. There is no fundamental cause of autism, and there is no single medication that gives every child or an adult with autism what they need,” said Dr. Susan Chrisley, AAP president, in a statement. “Individual plans, which often help a mixture of development, behavioral, educational and social strategies, help improve meaningful results for individuals and families.”