Treatment of autism spectrum disorders with agents that activate the Locus Coeruleus-Noradrenergic system
View Patent ↗Methods are provided for treating autism spectrum disorders (ASD) using agents that activate the locus coeruleus-noradrenergic (LC-NA) system of the brain and for screening for compounds for treating ASD comprising determining whether or not the compounds activate the LC-NA system.
1. A method for screening for compounds for treating autism spectrum disorders (ASD), the method comprising
determining whether or not the compound activates the locus coeruleus-noradrenergic (LC-NA) system of the brain,
wherein activation of the LC-NA system indicates that the compound is a candidate for treating ASD and wherein lack of activation of the LC-NA system indicates that the compound is not a candidate for treating ASD, and
wherein screening is conducted by administering the compound to an animal model that is unable to synthesize norepinephrine and that exhibits a motor deficit and/or impaired performance of an active-avoidance task, wherein improvement of the motor deficit and/or performance of the active-avoidance task following administration of the compound is indicative that the compound activates the LC-NA system.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the autism spectrum disorder is autism.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the agent is an adrenergic agonist.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the agonist is selective for one or more adrenergic receptor subtype.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the agent is a noradrenergic re-uptake inhibitor.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the agent is an antagonist of pre-synaptic inhibition of noradrenergic nerve terminals.