Drug Eases Compulsions in Mouse Model of Autism

A drug that blocks a certain type of receptor at the junctions between neurons reverses repetitive behaviors in a common environmental mouse model of autism, according to a study published 7 October in PLoS ONE.The drug, called 2-methyl-6-(phenylethyl)-pyrididine, or MPEP, inhibits the mGluR5 receptor, which uses the neurotransmitter glutamate for signaling. In 2007, researchers showed that dialing down mGluR5 activity can reverse the learning problems in a mouse model of fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited cause of autism.Since then, several groups have begun testing mGluR5 inhibitors as therapies for fragile X or autism.Read more at...SFARI, December 2011.