Study probes autism links to antioxidants: Drug might cut symptoms

By Michelle Herbison
A GEELONG team of researchers is investigating whether antioxidants decrease symptoms of autism.
Doctoral student Kristi Villagonzalo said the six-month placebo-controlled study would determine the effects of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) on children aged between three and 10 with autism disorder.
She said the trial was in response to recent findings that autistic children had lower levels of antioxidants than their peers.
“Exposure to oxidants happens everyday and most people have enough to balance that out but we suspect kids with autism might be deficient in some way,” she said.
The Independent reported in April that a group of parents was pushing for an autism-specific school in Geelong.
Group spokesperson Magic Barkley said the diagnosis rate of autism was increasing in the Geelong region.
The rate was as high as one in 25 in some areas, with 40 per cent of students at Nelson Park School having autism spectrum disorder, she said.
Ms Villagonzalo said a number of medications attempted to treat aggression or anxiety in autism sufferers but NAC was one of the first that hoped to address “what’s actually going on under the surface biologically”.
“In autism there are so few effective treatments that anything that has an affect is quite a big deal.”
Ms Villagonzalo said NAC was safe and naturally occurred in foods including leafy greens and red meat.
Researchers in the United States had undertaken a smaller-scale study of the drug on autistic children, finding it decreased repetitive behaviours, irritability and aggression.
Ms Villagonzalo said her supervisor, Deakin University’s Professor Michael Berk, had previously found NAC increased sociability in people with schizophrenia.
“Sociability is a major issue in autism, so it might have some sort of effect in that area.”
The study so far had 50 participants from Geelong and Melbourne but “the more the merrier”, Ms Villagonzalo said.
Participants would need to take one capsule daily for six months.
“We don’t expect to find a cure by any means but we hope to help these families that are affected by autism because it’s not easy,” Ms Villagonzalo.
Barwon Health, Australian Rotary Health Research Fund and Deakin, Melbourne and Monash universities were involved in the study.