Injecting pregnant mice with Bumetanide, a diuretic, appears to correct a developmental switch flipped during childbirth that reverses the firing characteristics of neurons in newborns, according to a study published online Thursday in the journal Science. The researchers found that the drug, given during pregnancy, could reverse autism symptoms in newborn mice bred with a genetic condition that often causes autism in people, and in rats exposed to the epilepsy drug valproic acid, which is known to trigger autism. Andrew Zimmerman, a pediatric neurologist at the Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, said the findings were encouraging. “The hope is after birth, provided we have a good diagnosis.” 
 
 Early clinical trials in Europe have shown that the drug diminished autism symptoms among 60 children age 3-11. Ben-Ari and his colleagues have patented a version of bumetanide and formed a company, Neurochlore, in Marseilles, to test the drug in children. He says bumetanide should not be given to pregnant women — despite his success with rodents — because it is impossible to determine which children will go on to develop autism and unethical to test on healthy ones. Autism cannot be diagnosed prenatally, but certain conditions that often lead to autism, such as fragile X syndrome, can be diagnosed in that early stage. Ben-Ari says he is hopeful that the drug will show benefits across a broad spectrum of children with autism, but behavioral therapy and possibly other pharmaceutical treatments will likely still be needed, too, he says. "It's important for people to understand there is no drug to cure a medical disease as complicated as autism," he says.
– French researchers have been testing a diuretic on kids with autism, and in a study released yesterday in Science, they explain why they think the drug, a version of bumetanide they have patented, has so much promise: because of their experiments with mice. As USA Today explains, a chemical switch needs to be flipped in the brain at or near birth in order for the brain to develop normally; the "flip" changes "the chemical GABA from stimulating electrical activity in the brain to tamping it down." As LiveScience explains, the hormone oxytocin would normally cause a switch, but it seems that in some cases, a buildup of chloride prevents the flip. Bumetanide removes salt from the body, and when the researchers administered the drug to pregnant mice and rats "modeled for autism" just before delivery, the flip, which seemingly wouldn't have occurred, seemingly did. The LAT notes a pretty important facet of the study: The drug was tested on just two types of autism that amount to a minority of overall autism instances. Still, an autism expert calls it a "pretty incredible finding." The researchers caution against administering bumetanide to all pregnant mothers, as that could be dangerous, and it's not possible to prenatally know which children will eventually develop autism. But early diagnosis is key, and they're testing their drug in kids as young as 2 (diagnosis typically comes two years later, notes USA Today). At Forbes, Emily Willingham pokes holes at the study, noting that, for one, "This 'brain-protective' action of oxytocin has been established in rodents. It has not been established in humans. If it were relevant, one would expect a strong autism signal among children born via planned cesarean section, as that generally doesn't involve oxytocin influence."