Researchers at the University of California, San Diego tested suramin, a drug first made in 1916 and used to treat African sleeping sickness, in a mouse model of autism. A single dose restored normal social behaviour and metabolism in adult mice, equivalent in age to 30-year-old humans. The results were published in Translational Psychiatry on June 17, 2014.
Suramin blocks signalling by ATP outside cells, which ended the cells' "danger response" and the inflammation linked to it. The effect was not permanent: one dose worked for about five weeks before washing out. The drug cannot be taken long term because it can cause anaemia and adrenal problems, but the team planned a small clinical trial in children with autism.
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