Intranasal Oxytocin for the Treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorders (INOT)

February 13, 2020 updated by: Eric Hollander, Montefiore Medical Center

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder characterized by abnormalities in speech and communication, impaired social functioning and repetitive behaviors and restricted interests. Oxytocin (OT) is peptide that is known for its peripheral effects on facilitating uterine contractions and milk let-down; however, studies, mainly with rodents and non-human primates, has found that OT is involved in affiliative behaviors, including sexual behavior, mother-infant and adult-adult pair-bond formation, separation distress, and other aspects of social attachment. Moreover, OT is known to play an important role in repetitive behaviors and stress reactivity. Given that repetitive behaviors and deficits in social interaction are core symptom domains of autism, and that OT is involved in the regulation of repetitive and affiliative behaviors, it is believed that OT may play a role in the etiology of autism. Moreover, preliminary data obtained by Hollander and colleagues suggests that OT may be of value in treating core autism symptoms. Specifically, synthetic oxytocin administered via intravenous infusion to adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) produced significant reductions in repetitive behaviors and facilitated social cognition/memory in a double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over laboratory challenge.

Encouraged by these findings, the primary aim of this study is to investigate the safety and therapeutic efficacy of intranasal OT in treating repetitive behaviors and social functioning/cognitive deficits in adults with ASD. This research embraces a translational approach to develop a novel treatment for core ASD symptoms; given that there are currently no Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved medication treatments for core ASD symptoms, this research addresses an important unmet need in the field. The goal of this study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of repeated Intranasal Oxytocin Treatment (INOT)administration in adults with ASD.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
19

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • New York
      • Bronx, New York, United States, 10467
        • Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 55 years (ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Male and Female
  • 18 to 55 years old
  • Meet Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-IV (DSM-IV), Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule(ADOS), and Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) standards for Autism Spectrum Disorder or Aspergers Syndrome
  • Have a high, normal or near normal Intelligent Quotient
  • Speak and Understand English fluently

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Born prior to 35 weeks gestational age
  • Any primary psychiatric diagnosis other than autism at the time of screening
  • Medical history of neurological disease
  • Medical history of known MRI/structural lesion of the brain
  • Patients who are pregnant
  • With a medical condition that might interfere with the conduct of the study, confound interpretation of study results or endanger their own well being
  • With evidence or history of malignancy or any significant hematological, endocrine, cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, hepatic or gastrointestinal disease
  • Taking psychoactive medications
  • Who plan to initiate or change nonpharmacologic interventions during the study course
  • Who are unable to tolerate venipuncture procedures for blood sampling

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: TREATMENT
  • Allocation: RANDOMIZED
  • Interventional Model: PARALLEL
  • Masking: QUADRUPLE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
PLACEBO_COMPARATOR: Placebo
Drug: Placebo
Saline will be administered intranasally twice a day via 1 puff per nostril, totaling 48 IU a day.
EXPERIMENTAL: Oxytocin
Drug: Intranasal Oxytocin
Oxytocin administered intranasally twice a day via 1 12 unit puff to each nostril, totaling 48 IU a day.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of Participants With Improvement on the Clinical Global Impression-Improvement (CGI-I) Scale
Time Frame: 6 Weeks
Rating Scale that utilizes direct observation, scales and patient report to inform clinical judgment. A form of CGI that targets social functioning will be used as the primary outcome measure. Semi-structured interview.
6 Weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Obsessive- Compulsive Behavior Based on Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (YBOCS)
Time Frame: Baseline, Week 6

Clinician-Rated questionnaire measuring the time spent, distress,interference, resistance, and control in relation to obsessions and compulsions based on a 5 point scale ranging from 0-5 for each category with 0 being most desirable and 5 being least. Sub-scales are added and averaged to obtain total scores.

-scale range (total): 0 - 40 total, 0 - 7 subclinical, 8-15 mild, 16 - 23 moderate, 24 - 31 severe, 32 - 40 extreme

Questions are rated on a 5-point scale, 0-4, increasing in severity. Obsession Rating Subscale (5 questions, ranging from 0 - 20 total) and Compulsion Rating subscale (5 questions, ranging from 0 - 20 total) are totaled and added to obtain total scores.

-score interpretation: Higher overall scores reflect increasing symptom severity.
Baseline, Week 6
Change in Repetitive Behavior Based Repetitive Behavior Scale - Revised (RBS-R)
Time Frame: Baseline, week 6

Subscale ranges: stereotypic behavior (0 - 27);self-injurious behavior (0 - 24); compulsive behavior (0 - 18); ritualistic/Sameness Behavior (0 - 36); restricted Interests (0 - 9).

Higher score in all subscales reflect increasing severity. Questions rate behaviors on a 4-point scale: 0 = does not occur; 1 = occurs, mild problem; 2 = occurs, moderate problem; 3 = occurs, severe problem. Subscale scores consist of sum of ratings within each question subset.

Lower order behaviors-- stereotypy and self-injury, higher order behaviors--compulsions, rituals /sameness, restricted interests.

Lower Order total range: 0-51, Higher Order total range: 0-63 Stereotypic behavior and Self-injurious behavior subscales were summed to create a total range for Lower Order behavior; and Compulsive behavior, ritualistic /sameness behavior, and restricted interests subscales were summed to create a total range for Higher Order behavior.
Baseline, week 6
Change in Facial Emotion Recognition Based on Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy - 2 (DANVA-2)
Time Frame: baseline, week 6

A clinical tool measuring emotion recognition through facial expression, voice and posture.

  1. Child faces 2 (range 0 - 100, higher values reflecting higher % of errors)
  2. Adult faces 2 (range 0 - 100, higher values reflecting higher % of errors)
  3. Child paralanguage 2 (range 0 - 100, higher values reflecting higher % of errors)
  4. Adult paralanguage 2 (range 0 - 100, higher values reflecting higher % of errors) Errors are counted and organized by pre-determined affect and intensity. Subtests considered separately.
baseline, week 6

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Montefiore Medical Center

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
October 1, 2009

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
December 1, 2013

Study Completion (ACTUAL)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
December 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
December 15, 2010

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 18, 2011

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
April 19, 2011

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ACTUAL)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
February 27, 2020

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
February 13, 2020

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
February 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 09-10-303

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