Oxytocin Effect in Adult Patients with Autism: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

This study looked at whether oxytocin nasal spray helps adults with autism. Researchers combined results from 10 studies and found that oxytocin didn't significantly improve anxiety, repetitive behaviors, social skills, or overall autism symptoms. Most individual studies also showed no benefits. The authors say more research is needed but current evidence doesn't support using oxytocin as an autism treatment.

This systematic review and meta-analysis examined 10 randomized controlled trials testing intranasal oxytocin for autism spectrum disorder treatment. The analysis found no significant efficacy of oxytocin across key autism domains: anxiety (p=0.132), repetitive behaviors (p=0.614), social function (p=0.891), and autism severity (p=0.524). Individual study results were largely negative, with only 1 out of 4 studies showing improvement in severity and 1 out of 6 studies indicating social function improvement. No studies demonstrated efficacy for anxiety or repetitive behaviors.

The meta-analysis showed no significant heterogeneity between studies and no publication bias, suggesting consistent negative findings across the research base.

Current evidence does not support the use of intranasal oxytocin for treating core autism symptoms in adults. Clinicians should be aware that despite theoretical promise, rigorous meta-analysis of randomized trials shows no significant benefits across key domains including social function, anxiety, repetitive behaviors, and overall severity.

The authors acknowledge several limitations that warrant cautious interpretation of results. The abstract does not specify what these limitations are, though they appear significant enough that the researchers recommend stimulating future research despite the negative findings.

The efficacy of oxytocin in the treatment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has not been fully characterized. This systematic review and meta-analysis study evaluated randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the treatment of intranasally administered oxytocin for autism. The study was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA statement. Two authors searched Scopus, PubMed/ Medline, Google Scholar, and Web of Science search engines and databases from inception through December 2020.

Quality assessment was carried out by with the "ROB-2, Cochrane collaboration's tool". The random-effects model was used for pooled analyses. I2 and Q tests were used to investigate study heterogeneity. The visual inspection of funnel plots along with Egger's regression asymmetry test was used to assess the potential sources of publication bias.

Ten RCTs were selected for the systematic review. No study corroborated the efficacy of oxytocin for the treatment of anxiety and repetitive behavior. One out of 4 studies reported clinical improvement in severity, and 1 out of 6 studies indicated improvement in social function. Our metaanalyses findings suggest that oxytocin shows no significant efficacy in the treatment of anxiety (SMD: -0.168, SE= 0.112; 95% CI: -0.387, 0.050, p = 0.132), repetitive behavior (SMD: -0.078, SE= 0.155; 95% CI: -0.382, 0.225, p = 0.614), social function (SMD: -0.018, SE= 0.133; 95% CI: -0.279, 0.242, p = 0.891) and severity (SMD: -0.084, SE= 132; 95% CI: -0.343, 0.175, p = 0.524) of autism.

No significant heterogeneity nor publication bias were observed between studies. Our findings failed to corroborate the efficacy of oxytocin in the treatment of ASD. Nonetheless, given the several limitations of our study, the results should be interpreted cautiously and stimulate future research on this timely topic.