Pharmacogenomics: A Promising Approach Towards Treatment of Autism

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are among the most common neuropsychiatric disorders, with an estimated worldwide prevalence of 1%-2.6% [1-3]. The affected individuals display deficits in social communication, impaired language development, and the presence of highly restricted inter ests and/or stereotyped repetitive behaviours [1,2,4-6]. Although a wide variety of treatments have been used to treat indi viduals with ASD, no curative therapies are currently available. Treatment approaches to autism generally focus on educational and behavioural interventions. Drug therapies are mainly used to treat specific disruptive behaviours, such as anxiety, irritability, hyperactivity, inattention, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, sleep disturbances, aggression and self-injury, which are usually associated with autism and negatively affect the success of educational treatments and quality of family life [7-14].