Active clinical trials for "Autistic Disorder"

ASDactive is a theory-based behaviour change intervention aimed at improving the physical activity behaviours of autistic youth. The feasibility of the intervention will be tested through interviews with participants and stakeholders. "Proof of concept" will be tested through preliminary measures of physical activity measured before and after the intervention.

This is a multicenter longitudinal study that aims to validate a set of measures that were previously identified as promising candidate biomarkers and/or sensitive and reliable objective measures of social function in ASD for potential use in clinical trials. The confirmation study will repeat the data collection and analysis protocols from the original ABC-CT study. This confirmation study will recruit 200 ASD and 200 TD comparison participants who are 6-11 years old, matching the overall sample size but providing a larger normative reference sample and greater statistical power for group comparisons.

FOXP1, also known as Forkhead-box Protein P1, is a transcription factor protein belonging to the FOX gene family. Disruptions in the FOXP1 gene cause a phenotype characterized by global developmental delay, speech deficits, mild dysmorphic features, and traits of autism spectrum disorder. This study seeks to characterize FOXP1-related neurodevelopmental disorders using a number of genetic, medical and neuropsychological measures.

Sleep disturbances and sensory sensitivities are common disabling features of autism, but their underlying causes are not clear. We hypothesize that both of these difficulties reflect disrupted communication between a deep brain structure, the thalamus, and the brain's outer layer, the cortex. This communication is mediated by the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN). Due to its small size and location deep in the brain, we cannot assess TRN function without invasive techniques. Fortunately, sleep spindles, a specific brain rhythm provide a noninvasive read-out of TRN function. In Aim 1 we will examine whether reduced sleep spindles are related to worse sleep quality, impaired selective attention during wake, and sensory sensitivities in children with autism. In Aim 2, we will determine whether melatonin, which is commonly used to improve sleep, also increases sleep spindles in autism. If successful, this study will introduce TRN as a target for treatment of sleep disruption and guide larger home-based sleep studies.

This pilot clinical trial tests the hypothesis that certain blood metabolite levels can be used to predict Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The study cohort will consist of 200 participants between the ages 18 and 60 months who have been referred to a developmental pediatric center for clinical evaluation of ASD or other developmental delay. Two selected sites will enroll 75 participants each with another 50 typically developing participants. Participants will receive a physical exam (including a dysmorphology evaluation), ADOS, VABS, MSEL, DSM-5, and M-CHAT assessments, and receive a diagnosis. A fasting blood draw is required, consisting of 2 mL vacutainer tubes (max 4 mL). Sites must process blood according to sponsor requirements (outlined in the Sponsor's Laboratory Manual). Certain metabolite levels in the blood will be used for diagnostic screening test development.

In this study, investigators will examine the treatment effects of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation with different stimulation frequencies on individuals with autism.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterised by an impairment of social interactions and communication, associated with repetitive behaviour and restrictive interests. Clinical phenotypes of this neurodevelopmental disorder are heterogeneous and surprisingly up to 70% of ASD patients have gastro-intestinal (GI) disorders, associated with ASD severity and influence by feeding disorders. Gut-brain axis seems to play a key role in neurodevelopment and ASD pathophysiology. Indeed an intestinal dysbiosis is observed in ASD, as well as intestinal inflammation and permeability. Aspecific inflammatory pattern suggests neuroinflammation processes in ASD. Neuroinflammation is involved in blood brain barrier (BBB) integrity and there are some arguments for a putative BBBimpairment in ASD. Nevertheless, no study has explored all together these parameters in ASD patients. Here we hypothesise that intestinal dysbiosis in ASD could lead to a BBB impairment through neuroinflammation processes. Furthermore, this association between intestinal dysbiosis and BBB impairment could be influenced by a lot of clinical characteristics, such as ASD severity or GI disorders presence. The principal aim of our study is to determine if the gut microbiota composition is associated with the BBB integrity in ASD. The secondary objectives are i) too identify in children with ASD some physiopathological pathways involved in this association, with a focus on associations betweenintestinal dysbiosis, intestinal permeability, intestinal permeability, the Th1/Th2 immune response, neuroinflammation and the BBB integrity; ii) to evaluate the influence of these associations on several clinical features of ASD such as ASD severity or GI disorders intensity; iii) to evaluate the influence of nutritional status on biological and clinical parameters. This study will assess a lot of clinical and biological parameters together, some of them were never explored in ASD children. It will allow to better understand ASD pathophysiology, to highlight new therapeutic pathway, and to promote personalised medicine.

Autism (ASD) is one of the frequent neurodevelopmental disorders that children would occur. Many studies have shown that individuals with Autism are more common to experience significant gastrointestinal problems than other individuals. Symptoms include constipation, diarrhea, abdominal pain and gastric reflux. A recent study with 50 children with ASD, 50 children with other developmental disabilities and 50 healthy control children, it found that 70% of ASD children had presented with GI symptoms, compared with 42% of developmental disabilities children and 28% of developing children, it is believed that ASD children will have a distinctive microbial pattern in the stool. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is another neurodevelopmental and neurobehavioral disorder. A study found that ADHD individuals experience significantly higher rate of stomach pain and bowel problems than other control individuals. It is suggested that the microbiota in the stool of ADHD children might be different. Genetic study also found that if a child has a sibling with ADHD, the risk of developing ADHD is three to four times higher than that of children with siblings without ADHD.

The purpose of this study is to increase knowledge and insights with regard to physical activity behavior in adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

In the treatment of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), medication is only an adjunct, and the main treatment modalities are education and behavioral therapy. People with autism incur huge medical and educational costs, which puts a great financial burden on families.Taurine is one of the abundant amino acids in tissues and organs, and plays a variety of physiological and pharmacological functions in nervous, cardiovascular, renal, endocrine and immune systems. A large number of studies have shown that taurine can improve cognitive function impairment under various physiological or pathological conditions through a variety of mechanisms, taurine can increase the abundance of beneficial bacteria in the intestine, inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria, and have a positive effect on intestinal homeostasis. This study intends to analyze the effect of taurine supplementation on ASD, and explore the possible mechanism by detecting intestinal symptoms, intestinal flora, markers of oxidative stress and clinical symptoms of ASD.