Gabapentin treatment for challenging behaviors in autism spectrum disorder and coexisting intellectual disability: a case report
| Date | 18 June 2024 |
| Pages | 101-109 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/AMHID-06-2023-0021 |
| Published date | 18 June 2024 |
| Author | Stefano Marini,Lucia D'Agostino,Carla Ciamarra,Domenico De Berardis,Alessandro Gentile |
Gabapentin treatment for challenging
behaviors in autism spectrum disorder
and coexisting intellectual disability:
a case report
Stefano Marini, Lucia D’Agostino, Carla Ciamarra, Domenico De Berardis and
Alessandro Gentile
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of thiscase report is to report the clinical experience of the useof gabapentin in
the management of problem behaviors in a person with autism spectrum disorder and comorbid
intellectualdisability. Autism spectrum disorderis aneurodevelopmentaldisorder with a high prevalence
of intellectual disability.Challenging behaviors in autism spectrum disorderare very common. In recent
years, the hypothesis that the symptoms of autism derive from a deficiency of the inhibitory
neurotransmissionof gamma-aminobutyricacid is gaining considerable weight.
Design/methodology/approach –Exploring behavioral symptoms improvement in an adult man with
ASD and severeintellectual disability takinggabapentin.
Findings –The rating scales used show improvement in challenging behaviors and aggressions. No
side effectswere observed.
Originality/value –Currently, there are no authorized drugs for the treatment of the symptomatic
features ofautism spectrum disorder, but drugs areused for comorbid psychopathologicalaspects. The
authorswant to speculate on a hypothetical functionof gabapentin in remodeling theexpression of alpha-
2-deltasubunits in people with autism and the processing of neuralinformation.
Keywords Autism, Challenging behavior, Treatment, Intellectual disability, Psychopharmacology,
Gabapentin
Paper type Case study
Introduction
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) includes a group of developmental disabilities
characterized by patterns of delay and deviance in the development of social,
communicative, cognitive skills and thepresence of repetitive and stereotyped behaviors
as well as restricted interests (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Past literature
reported various percentages (up to 70%) of the prevalence of Intellectual Disability (ID) in
people with ASD (Wing and Gould, 1979;Shah et al., 1982;Bryson et al., 2008;LaMalfa
et al., 2004). Recently, ID has been reported as the third most frequent comorbidity in
people with ASD (21.7%), after attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD) (35.3%) and
learning disability (23.5%) (Khachadourian et al.,2023).
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th edition (DSM-5, American
Psychiatric Association, 2013) defines ID as neurodevelopmental disorders that begin in
childhood and are characterized by intellectual difficulties as well as difficulties in
Stefano Marini,
Lucia D’Agostino,
Carla Ciamarra are all
based at the Department of
Mental Health, National
Health Service, Termoli,
Italy. Domenico De
Berardis is based at the
Department of Mental
Health, National Health
Service, Teramo, Italy.
Alessandro Gentile is
based at the Department of
Mental Health, National
Health Service, Termoli,
Italy.
Received 28 June 2023
Revised 23 September 2023
2 May 2024
Accepted 10 May 2024
This paper was entirely funded
by the authors, and no
pharmaceutical companies
were informed of or were
involved in the paper. The
authors have no potential
conflicts of interest that are
directly relevant to the contents
of the paper. All authors have
contributed to this paper with
equal efforts.
DOI 10.1108/AMHID-06-2023-0021 VOL. 18 NO. 32024, pp. 101-109, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2044-1282 jADVANCES IN MENTAL HEALTH AND INTELLECTUALDISABILITIES jPAGE 101
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