Fragile X Syndrome: Rx Minocycline?

This widely available medication was associated with modest behavioral improvements in children with FXS.

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) — the most common inherited cause of intellectual deficiency — is associated with macroorchidism (onset at puberty), prominent ears, hyperextensible finger joints, and behavioral conditions including attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, and aggression. The prevalence of FXS is 1 in 4000 to 8000 individuals, and the syndrome is caused by a >200 CGG repeat expansion of the FMR1 gene on the X chromosome. In a knock-out mouse model for FXS, minocycline lowered a brain protein in the hippocampus that modulates brain plasticity, and in small open-label trials in patients with FXS, minocycline has been associated with improvement in behavior. Now researchers have conducted the first randomized, double-blind, …

Reviewing Author

Martin T. Stein, MD

Disclosures

Consultant / Advisory boardPearson Neuroscience Advisory Board

Speaker’s bureauAmerican Academy of Pediatrics

RoyaltiesElsevier, Inc.

Editorial boardsJournal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics

Martin T. Stein, MD

Disclosures

Consultant / Advisory boardPearson Neuroscience Advisory Board

Speaker’s bureauAmerican Academy of Pediatrics

RoyaltiesElsevier, Inc.

Editorial boardsJournal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics