A Single Dose, Randomized, Controlled Proof-Of-Mechanism Study of a Novel Vasopressin 1a Receptor Antagonist (RG7713) in High-Functioning Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Vasopressin, published as a randomized controlled trial.

The core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) include impaired social communication, repetitive behaviors, and restricted interests.

Within the domain of social communication, the vasopressin system is implicated in social cognition and social signaling deficits of ASD, and represents a potential therapeutic target.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 10 subjects taking part.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were teenagers, young adults, adults and middle-aged adults, men only.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover and multicenter study.

The subjects were allocated by chance, so the Vasopressin group and the comparison group should start out alike.

Blinding on both sides kept the subjects and researchers unaware of who received Vasopressin.

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with Vasopressin could be set against what happens without it.

In the crossover set-up each of the subjects took both Vasopressin and the comparison in turn, acting as their own control.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Autism Spectrum Disorder, Cognition, Communication, Indoles, Preliminary Data, Psychotropic Drugs and Receptors, Vasopressin.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Vasopressin in 10 subjects.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The publication is from 2017 (Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology), a journal based in England.

More context: the Vasopressin compound page, all human trials.