Research summaries for autism therapy: glutamate

definition of glutamate: Amino acid that is found throughout the body and is present in many proteins. Glutamate is also important in metabolism, the chemical process that generates energy in the body, and functions as a neurotransmitter that can turn on or trigger signals in neurons.
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Memantine: A Comprehensive Review of Safety and Efficacy, Summarized Dec 21, 2009

Memantine may be helpful for people with moderate-to-severe autism disorders.

The glutamate pathway may be out of balance in brains of people with autism. Memantine is a medication that reduces certain brain activities by blocking glutamate receptors in the brain. Two clinical trials of memantine in people with autism had different results. One trial reported that memantine was helpful for improving language and social interactions in people with pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS).... Read more...

Immune-Glutamatergic Dysfunction as a Central Mechanism of the Autism Spectrum Disorders, Summarized Mar 10, 2009

Vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin B12, magnesium, and omega-3 fatty acids may improve symptoms of autism.... Treatment approaches would include use of supplements and reduction of processed foods that have additives that contain glutamate and aspartate. SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS AND COMPOUNDS, WHICH ARE KNOWN TO REDUCE EXCITOTOXICITY:
Methylcobalamin (vitamin B12)
Pyridoxal-5 phosphate (vitamin B6)
Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols)
Vitamin C (buffered)
CoQ10
Acetyl-L-carnitine
Alpha-lipoic acid
Magnesium glycinate or lactate
Zinc
Flavonoids

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS AND COMPOUNDS, WHICH ARE KNOWN TO REDUCE MICROGLIAL ACTIVATION:
Ibupropen
Mincycline
Ferulic acid
DHEA
Curcumin
Quercetin
Silymarin
Baicalein
Resveratrol
DHA/EPA... Read more...

A Systematic Review of Off-Label Uses of Memantine for Psychiatric Disorders, Summarized Sep 11, 2008

While memantine may help with some of the problem behaviors associated with autism, more research is needed.

This review article describes the use of the brain drug memantine to treat pervasive developmental disorders (PDD). Memantine acts on the brain chemical glutamate, which is known to be involved in brain growth. Some genetic studies point to glutamate as having a role in autism. Memantine drug therapy may be most helpful with regards to routines and rituals that are observed in some people with autism. The authors found five open label studies and one case report on the use of memantine to treat autism in children and adults. Read more...

Glutamate Antagonists Seem to be Slightly Effective in Psychopharmacologic Treatment of Autism, Summarized Jun 21, 2007

Memantine therapy may help people with autism.

Drugs such as memantine are normally used to treat Alzheimer'??s disease (cholinergic drugs). This is a small report on the use of memantine therapy in four patients (children and adults) with autism. The patients received 20 mg memantine daily for four weeks. Patients did not seem to have headaches or stomachaches. The author found that treatment with memantine helped the patients feel less irritable. Read more...

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Synonyms for glutamate include: L-Glutamine
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