naloxone and Brain-Damage--Chronic

Methadone overdoses are increasing in parallel with the increased frequency of opiate substitution therapy in adults. Although unintentional methadone intoxication in children is rare, it is becoming more frequently recognized. We report 3 cases of unintentional methadone overdose in toddlers who initially displayed central nervous system depression associated with severe nonketotic hyperglycemia and discuss the possible pathophysiologic mechanisms of an underrecognized symptom of opiate intoxication in young children.

Topics: Accidents, Home; Animals; Brain Damage, Chronic; Child, Preschool; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1; Diagnostic Errors; Dobutamine; Drug Packaging; Epinephrine; Female; France; Humans; Hyperglycemic Hyperosmolar Nonketotic Coma; Infant; Insulin; Islets of Langerhans; Male; Methadone; Mice; Multiple Organ Failure; Myocardial Infarction; Naloxone; Receptor, Insulin; Receptors, Opioid, mu; Shock, Cardiogenic; Sweetening Agents; Time Factors

Considerable clinical evidence suggests that autistic children lack the normal ability or desire to engage others socially, as indicated by their poor social skills and inappropriate use of language for communicative purposes. Specifically, these children seem to lack normal amounts of social-emotional interest in other people, leading perhaps to a decreased initiative to communicate. This paper summarizes experimental evidence supporting a neurological theory, which posits that autism, at least partially, represents in the brain, such as brain opioids. These substances modulate social-emotional processes, and the possibility that blockade of opioid activity in the brain may be therapeutic for early childhood autism is discussed.

Topics: Autistic Disorder; Brain; Brain Damage, Chronic; Child; Emotions; Endorphins; Humans; Language Development Disorders; Naloxone; Naltrexone; Receptors, Opioid; Serotonin; Social Behavior