Treating Autism With Bumetanide: Are Large Multicentric and Monocentric Trials on Selected Populations Complementary?

In their article in the Journal, Sprengers et al.1 conclude that bumetanide does not attenuate autism spectrum disorder (ASD) despite a nominally significant treatment effect in repetitive behaviors, which is a core symptom of ASD but was defined as a secondary measure in this trial. Four earlier studies performed by 3 independent institutes, including 2 studies2,3 not mentioned by Sprengers et al., testing a total of 169 children (versus 122 placebo) showed a significant amelioration of ASD symptoms. Bumetanide also significantly attenuated behavioral features of patients with tuberous sclerosis according to another study by Sprengers' same group.4.