A drug given to pregnant mice prevented autism-like behavior in their offspring, encouraging researchers they’re on the right track in testing the medicine in children with the disorder.

The study, published today in the journal Science, supports the rationale for using the medicine, called bumetanide, the lead researcher, Yehezkel Ben-Ari, said in a telephone interview. Bumetanide was marketed by Roche Holding AG (ROG) under the brand name Bumex as a treatment for water retention in people with congestive heart failure and now is a generic drug.



Braking Effect

Ben-Ari’s research looked at the effects of bumetanide on a neurotransmitter in the brain that can alter autism-like behavior in offspring. The transmitter acts as a stimulant on neurons in the brain before birth, but has a braking effect afterward. In rodents either genetically or environmentally predisposed to develop an autism-like condition, the switch to an inhibitory effect doesn’t take place.

Giving bumetanide to pregnant rodents predisposed to autism shortly before they gave birth allowed the neurotransmitter to switch functions, leading to offspring that didn’t show autism-like behavior.