Reversing the fragile X phenotype

Abstract

Comments on an article, Chronic Pharmacological mGlu5 Inhibition Corrects Fragile X in Adult Mice by M. Sidorov et al. (2012). In their article, Sidorov et al. showed that chronic pharmacological inhibition of mGluR5 in adult mice can reverse many of the impairments that result from the loss of fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP). However, the current author notes, the study did not assess the effects of the treatment on some other characteristics that are often observed in FXS, such as social interaction impairments. Nevertheless, these findings indicate that chronic inhibition of mGluR5 signalling in the relatively mature mammalian brain can reverse a number of therapeutically relevant phenotypic consequences of FMRP loss even once these are established, providing hope that a similar strategy could be used post-diagnosis in humans with FXS. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)