N-acetylcysteine for treatment of autism, a case report

There are a limited number of food and drug administration (fda)-approved medications for the treatment of autism. meanwhile, oxidative stress and neuroinflammation are supposed to play a causative role in autism. n-acetylcysteine may provide cystine, a precursor for glutathione (gsh), which is an important antioxidant factor in the brain. we here report a child with autism, whose symptoms were markedly decreased after taking oral n-acetylcysteine 800 mg/day, in three divided doses. his social interaction was significantly increased. the score of social impairment on a visual analog scale decreased from 10 to 6 in the two-month trial. the aggressive behaviors decreased from 10 to 3. this case suggests that n-acetylcysteine may decrease some symptoms of autism.