Cited by 58Genetics and Neurodevelopmental DisordersAutism Spectrum Disorder ResearchLanguage Development and Disorders

Controlled trial of lovastatin combined with an open-label treatment of a parent-implemented language intervention in youth with fragile X syndrome

Open access
Thurman, Angela John, Potter, Laura A., Kim, Kyoungmi, Tassone, Flora, Banasik, Amy, Potter, Sarah Nelson, Bullard, Lauren, Nguyen, Vivian +3 more·2020·Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this study was to conduct a 20-week controlled trial of lovastatin (10 to 40 mg/day) in youth with fragile X syndrome (FXS) ages 10 to 17 years, combined with an open-label treatment of a parent-implemented language intervention (PILI), delivered via distance video teleconferencing to both treatment groups, lovastatin and placebo. Method: A randomized, double-blind trial was conducted at one site in the Sacramento, California, metropolitan area. Fourteen participants were assigned to the lovastatin group; two participants terminated early from the study. Sixteen participants were assigned to the placebo group. Lovastatin or placebo was administered orally in a capsule form, starting at 10 mg and increasing weekly or as tolerated by 10 mg increments, up to a maximum dose of 40 mg daily. A PILI was delivered to both groups for 12 weeks, with 4 activities per week, through video teleconferencing by an American Speech-Language Association-certified Speech-Language Pathologist, in collaboration with a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst. Parents were taught to use a set of language facilitation strategies while interacting with their children during a shared storytelling activity. The main outcome measures included absolute change from baseline to final visit in the means for youth total number of story-related utterances, youth number of different word roots, and parent total number of story-related utterances. Results: Significant increases in all primary outcome measures were observed in both treatment groups. Significant improvements were also observed in parent reports of the severity of spoken language and social impairments in both treatment groups. In all cases, the amount of change observed did not differ across the two treatment groups. Although gains in parental use of the PILI-targeted intervention strategies were observed in both treatment groups, parental use of the PILI strategies was correlated with youth gains in the placebo group and not in the lovastatin group. Conclusion: Participants in both groups demonstrated significant changes in the primary outcome measures. The magnitude of change observed across the two groups was comparable, providing additional support for the efficacy of the use of PILI in youth with FXS. Trial registration: US National Institutes of Health ( ClinicalTrials.gov ), NCT02642653 . Registered 12/30/2015.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1186/s11689-020-09315-4

Cites

9 of 9 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Lovastatin did not enhance the treatment response of parent-implemented language intervention in a randomized, double-blind trial.

    “However, lovastatin did not enhance the treatment response of parent-implemented language intervention in a randomized, double-blind trial18, and it remained unclear whether lovastatin has less effect on speech-related mechanisms than mechanisms underlying other symptoms such as hyperactivity and stereotypy in FXS.”

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 64

  1. [1]Betancur C Etiological heterogeneity in autism spectrum disorders: more than 100 genetic and genomic disorders and still counting Brain Res. 2011 1380 42 77 10.1016/j.brainres.2010.11.078 21129364 · DOI · Paper page
  2. [3]Bassell GJ Warren ST Fragile X syndrome: loss of local mRNA regulation alters synaptic development and function Neuron. 2008 60 2 201 214 10.1016/j.neuron.2008.10.004 18957214 PMC3691995 · DOI · Paper page
  3. [4]Oostra BA Willemsen R A fragile balance: FMR1 expression levels Hum Mol Genet. 2003 12 suppl 2 R249 R257 10.1093/hmg/ddg298 12952862 · DOI
  4. [5]Klintsova AY Greenough WT Synaptic plasticity in cortical systems Curr Opin Neurobiol. 1999 9 2 203 208 10.1016/S0959-4388(99)80028-2 10322189 · DOI
  5. [6]Krueger DD Bear MF Toward fulfilling the promise of molecular medicine in fragile X syndrome Annu Rev Med. 2011 62 1 411 429 10.1146/annurev-med-061109-134644 21090964 PMC3100156 · DOI · Paper page
  6. [7]Engel SR Creson TK Hao Y Shen Y Maeng S Nekrasova T The extracellular signal-regulated kinase pathway contributes to the control of behavioral excitement Mol Psychiatry. 2009 14 4 448 461 10.1038/sj.mp.4002135 18227838 PMC2804878 · DOI
  7. [8]Fasano S Brambilla R Ras-ERK Signaling in behavior: old questions and new perspectives Front Behav Neurosci. 2011 5 79 10.3389/fnbeh.2011.00079 22131969 PMC3223382 · DOI
  8. [9]Horwood JM Dufour F Laroche S Davis S Signalling mechanisms mediated by the phosphoinositide 3-kinase/Akt cascade in synaptic plasticity and memory in the rat Eur J Neurosci. 2006 23 12 3375 3384 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2006.04859.x 16820027 · DOI
  9. [10]Lugo JN Smith GD Arbuckle EP White J Holley AJ Floruta CM Deletion of PTEN produces autism-like behavioral deficits and alterations in synaptic proteins Front Mol Neurosci. 2014 7 27 10.3389/fnmol.2014.00027 24795561 PMC3997048 · DOI
  10. [11]Erickson CA Davenport MH Schaefer TL Wink LK Pedapati EV Sweeney JA Fragile X targeted pharmacotherapy: lessons learned and future directions J Neurodev Disord. 2017 9 1 7 10.1186/s11689-017-9186-9 28616096 PMC5467059 · DOI
  11. [12]Michalon A Sidorov M Ballard TM Ozmen L Spooren W Wettstein JG Chronic pharmacological mGlu5 inhibition corrects fragile X in adult mice Neuron. 2012 74 49 56 10.1016/j.neuron.2012.03.009 22500629 PMC8822597 · DOI · Paper page
  12. [13]McDuffie AS Banasik A Bullard L Nelson S Feigles RT Hagerman R Distance delivery of a spoken language intervention for school-aged and adolescent boys with fragile X syndrome Dev Neurorehabil. 2018 21 1 48 63 10.1080/17518423.2017.1369189 28956679 PMC5986725 · DOI
  13. [14]McDuffie AS Machalicek W Bullard L Nelson S Mello M Tempero-Feigles R A spoken-language intervention for school-aged boys with fragile X syndrome Am J Intellect Dev Disabil. 2016 121 3 236 265 10.1352/1944-7558-121.3.236 27119214 PMC4849176 · DOI · Paper page
  14. [15]Acosta MT Kardel PG Walsh KS Rosenbaum KN Gioia GA Packer RJ Lovastatin as treatment for neurocognitive deficits in neurofibromatosis type 1: phase I study Pediatr Neurol. 2011 45 4 241 245 10.1016/j.pediatrneurol.2011.06.016 21907886 · DOI
  15. [16]Gross C Nakamoto M Yao X Chan CB Yim SY Ye K Excess phosphoinositide 3-kinase subunit synthesis and activity as a novel therapeutic target in fragile X syndrome J Neurosci. 2010 30 32 10624 10638 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0402-10.2010 20702695 PMC2924772 · DOI · Paper page
  16. [18]Fernandez-Carvajal I Walichiewicz P Xiaosen X Pan R Hagerman PJ Tassone F Screening for expanded alleles of the FMR1 gene in blood spots from newborn males in a spanish population J Mol Diagnostics. 2009 11 4 324 329 10.2353/jmoldx.2009.080173 PMC2710709 19460941 · DOI · Paper page
  17. [19]Berry-Kravis E Hessl D Coffey S Hervey C Schneider A Yuhas J A pilot open label, single dose trial of fenobam in adults with fragile X syndrome J Med Genet. 2009 46 4 266 271 10.1136/jmg.2008.063701 19126569 PMC2658751 · DOI · Paper page
  18. [20]Mazzocco MMM Advances in research on the fragile X syndrome Ment Retard Dev Disabil Res Rev. 2000 6 2 96 106 10.1002/1098-2779(2000)6:2<96::AID-MRDD3>3.0.CO;2-H 10899802 · DOI
  19. [21]Cornish K Scerif G Karmiloff-Smith A Tracing syndrome-specific trajectories of attention across the lifespan Cortex. 2007 43 6 672 685 10.1016/S0010-9452(08)70497-0 17710820 · DOI · Paper page
  20. [22]Scerif G Longhi E Cole V Karmiloff-Smith A Cornish K Attention across modalities as a longitudinal predictor of early outcomes: the case of fragile X syndrome J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2012 53 6 641 650 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2011.02515.x 22211574 · DOI · Paper page
  21. [23]Cordeiro L Ballinger E Hagerman R Hessl D Clinical assessment of DSM-IV anxiety disorders in fragile X syndrome: prevalence and characterization J Neurodev Disord. 2011 3 1 57 67 10.1007/s11689-010-9067-y 21475730 PMC3057014 · DOI · Paper page
  22. [24]Kau ASM Reider EE Payne L Meyer WA Freund L Early behavior signs of psychiatric phenotypes in fragile X syndrome Am J Ment Retard. 2000 105 4 286 299 10.1352/0895-8017(2000)105<0286:EBSOPP>2.0.CO;2 10934570 · DOI · Paper page
  23. [25]Harris SW Hessl D Goodlin-Jones B Ferranti J Bacalman S Barbato I Autism profiles of males with fragile X syndrome Am J Ment Retard. 2008 113 6 427 438 10.1352/2008.113:427-438 19127654 PMC2629645 · DOI · Paper page
  24. [27]Wang H Pati S Pozzo-Miller L Doering LC Targeted pharmacological treatment of autism spectrum disorders: fragile X and Rett syndromes Front Cell Neurosci. 2015 9 55 25767435 PMC4341567
  25. [28]Yamasue H Aran A Berry-Kravis E Emerging pharmacological therapies in fragile X syndrome and autism Curr Opin Neurol. 2019 32 4 635 640 10.1097/WCO.0000000000000703 31045620 · DOI
  26. [29]Tassone F Hagerman RJ Iklé DN Dyer PN Lampe M Willemsen R FMRP expression as a potential prognostic indicator in fragile X syndrome Am J Med Genet. 1999 84 3 250 261 10.1002/(SICI)1096-8628(19990528)84:3<250::AID-AJMG17>3.0.CO;2-4 10331602 · DOI
  27. [31]Huber KM Gallagher SM Warren ST Bear MF Altered synaptic plasticity in a mouse model of fragile X mental retardation Proc Natl Acad Sci. 2002 99 11 7746 7750 10.1073/pnas.122205699 12032354 PMC124340 · DOI · Paper page
  28. [33]Dölen G Osterweil E Rao BSS Smith GB Auerbach BD Chattarji S Correction of fragile X syndrome in mice Neuron. 2007 56 6 955 962 10.1016/j.neuron.2007.12.001 18093519 PMC2199268 · DOI · Paper page
  29. [34]Qin M Kang J Burlin TV Jiang C Smith CB Postadolescent changes in regional cerebral protein synthesis: an in vivo study in the Fmr1 null mouse J Neurosci. 2005 25 20 5087 5095 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0093-05.2005 15901791 PMC6724856 · DOI · Paper page
  30. [35]Michalon A Sidorov M Ballard TM Ozmen L Spooren W Wettstein JG Chronic pharmacological mGlu5 inhibition corrects fragile X in adult mice Neuron. 2012 74 1 49 56 10.1016/j.neuron.2012.03.009 22500629 PMC8822597 · DOI · Paper page
  31. [38]Çaku A Pellerin D Bouvier P Riou E Corbin F Effect of lovastatin on behavior in children and adults with fragile X syndrome: an open-label study Am J Med Genet Part A. 2014 164 11 2834 2842 10.1002/ajmg.a.36750 25258112 · DOI · Paper page
  32. [39]Crawford LM Jr Pediatric use of Mevacor J Am Med Assoc. 2002 287 13 1640 10.1001/jama.287.13.1640-JFD20004-2-1 · DOI
  33. [40]Pierpont EI Richmond EK Abbeduto L Kover ST Brown WT Contributions of phonological and verbal working memory to language development in adolescents with fragile X syndrome J of Neurodev Dis. 2011 3 4 335 10.1007/s11689-011-9095-2 PMC3261261 21993552 · DOI
  34. [41]Kover ST Pierpont EI Kim JS Brown WT Abbeduto L A neurodevelopmental perspective on the acquisition of nonverbal cognitive skills in adolescents with fragile X syndrome Dev Neuropsych. 2013 38 7 445 460 10.1080/87565641.2013.820305 PMC3886837 24138215 · DOI
  35. [42]Berry-Kravis EM Lindemann L Jønch AE Apostol G Bear MF Carpenter RL Drug development for neurodevelopmental disorders: lessons learned from fragile X syndrome Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2018 17 4 280 299 10.1038/nrd.2017.221 29217836 PMC6904225 · DOI · Paper page
  36. [43]Klein RG Abikoff HB Behavior therapy and methylphenidate in the treatment of children with ADHD J Atten Dis. 1997 2 2 89 114 10.1177/108705479700200203 · DOI
  37. [44]Piacentini J Bennett S Compton SN Kendall PC Birmaher B Albano AM March J Sherrill J Sakolsky D Ginsburg G Rynn M 24-and 36-week outcomes for the Child/Adolescent Anxiety Multimodal Study (CAMS) J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2014 53 3 297 310 10.1016/j.jaac.2013.11.010 24565357 PMC3982864 · DOI · Paper page
  38. [45]Compton SN Walkup JT Albano AM Piacentini JC Birmaher B Sherrill JT Ginsburg GS Rynn MA McCracken JT Waslick BD Iyengar S Child/adolescent anxiety multimodal study (CAMS): rationale, design, and methods Child adolescent psychiatry men. 2010 4 1 1 10.1186/1753-2000-4-1 PMC2818613 20051130 · DOI
  39. [46]Sanchez AL Comer JS Coxe S Albano AM Piacentini J Compton SN Ginsburg GS Rynn MA Walkup JT Sakolsky DJ Birmaher B The effects of youth anxiety treatment on school impairment: differential outcomes across CBT, sertraline, and their combination Child Psychiatry Human Dev. 2019 50 6 940 949 10.1007/s10578-019-00896-3 31087216 · DOI
  40. [47]Hinshaw SP Arnold LE Edu H ADHD, Multimodal treatment, and longitudinal outcome: evidence, paradox, and challenge for the MTA Cooperative Group Wiley Interdiscip Rev Cogn Sci. 2015 6 1 39 52 10.1002/wcs.1324 26262927 PMC4280855 · DOI
  41. [48]Warren SF Brady N Sterling A Fleming K Marquis J Maternal responsivity predicts language development in young children with fragile X syndrome Am J Intellect Dev Disabil. 2010 115 1 54 75 10.1352/1944-7558-115.1.54 20025359 PMC3045825 · DOI
  42. [49]Murphy MM Abbeduto L Indirect genetic effects and the early language development of children with genetic mental retardation syndromes: the role of joint attention Infants Young Child. 2005 18 1 47 59 10.1097/00001163-200501000-00006 · DOI
  43. [51]Kasari C Gulsrud AC Wong C Kwon S Locke J Randomized controlled caregiver mediated joint engagement intervention for toddlers with autism J Autism Dev Disord. 2010 40 9 1045 1056 10.1007/s10803-010-0955-5 20145986 PMC2922697 · DOI · Paper page
  44. [52]Green J Charman T McConachie H Aldred C Slonims V Howlin P Parent-mediated communication-focused treatment in children with autism (PACT): a randomised controlled trial Lancet. 2010 375 9732 2152 2160 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60587-9 20494434 PMC2890859 · DOI · Paper page
  45. [53]McDuffie A Machalicek W Oakes A Haebig E Weismer SE Abbeduto L Distance video-teleconferencing in early intervention: Pilot study of a naturalistic parent-implemented language intervention Topics Early Childhood Special Ed. 2013 33 3 172 185 10.1177/0271121413476348 · DOI
  46. [54]McDuffie A Oakes A Machalicek W Ma M Bullard L Nelson S Abbeduto L Early language intervention using distance video-teleconferencing: a pilot study of young boys with fragile X syndrome and their mothers Am J Speech Lang Pathology. 2016 25 1 46 66 10.1044/2015_AJSLP-14-0137 26502382 · DOI
  47. [55]Vismara LA McCormick CE Shields R Hessl D Extending the parent-delivered Early Start Denver Model to young children with fragile X syndrome J Autism Dev Disord. 2019 49 3 1250 1266 10.1007/s10803-018-3833-1 30499037 · DOI
  48. [56]Tassone F Iong K Tong T-H Lo J Gane LW Berry-Kravis E FMR1 CGG allele size and prevalence ascertained through newborn screening in the United States Genome Med. 2012 4 12 100 10.1186/gm401 23259642 PMC4064316 · DOI
  49. [58]Lord C Rutter M DiLavore P Risi S Gotham K Bishop SL Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-Second Edition (ADOS-2) 2012 Torrance, CA Western Psychological Services
  50. [60]Dunn DM Dunn LM Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test 2007 4 Pearson Minneapolis, MN
  51. [61]Williams KT Expressive Vocabulary Test 2007 2 Pearson Minneapolis, MN
  52. [64]Bodfish JW Symons FJ Parker DE Lewis MH Varieties of repetitive behavior in autism: comparisons to mental retardation J Autism Dev Disord. 2000 30 3 237 243 10.1023/A:1005596502855 11055459 · DOI · Paper page
  53. [65]Aman MG Singh NN Stewart AW Field CJ The aberrant behavior checklist: a behavior rating scale for the assessment of treatment effects Am J Ment Defic. 1985 89 5 485 491 3993694
  54. [66]Busner J Targum SD The clinical global impressions scale: applying a research tool in clinical practice Psychiatry (Edgmont). 2007 4 7 28 37 20526405 PMC2880930
  55. [67]Erickson CA Weng N Weiler IJ Greenough WT Stigler KA Wink LK Open-label riluzole in fragile X syndrome Brain Res. 2011 1380 264 270 10.1016/j.brainres.2010.10.108 21059347 · DOI
  56. [69]Leigh MJS Nguyen DV Mu Y Winarni TI Schneider A Chechi T A randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of minocycline in children and adolescents with fragile x syndrome J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2013 34 3 147 155 10.1097/DBP.0b013e318287cd17 23572165 PMC3706260 · DOI · Paper page
  57. [71]del Hoyo SL Thurman AJ Harvey DJ Brown WT Abbeduto L Genetic and maternal predictors of cognitive and behavioral trajectories in females with fragile X syndrome J Neurodev Disord. 2018 10 1 22 10.1186/s11689-018-9240-2 29925305 PMC6011256 · DOI
  58. [72]Dziembowska M Pretto DI Janusz A Kaczmarek L Leigh MJ Gabriel N High MMP-9 activity levels in fragile X syndrome are lowered by minocycline Am J Med Genet Part A. 2013 161 8 1897 1903 10.1002/ajmg.a.36023 23824974 · DOI · Paper page
  59. [73]AlOlaby RR Sweha SR Silva M Durbin-Johnson B Yrigollen CM Pretto D Molecular biomarkers predictive of sertraline treatment response in young children with fragile X syndrome Brain Dev. 2017 39 6 483 492 10.1016/j.braindev.2017.01.012 28242040 PMC5420478 · DOI
  60. [74]Darnell JC Klann E The translation of translational control by FMRP: therapeutic targets for FXS Nat Neurosci. 2013 16 11 1530 1536 10.1038/nn.3379 23584741 PMC3999698 · DOI · Paper page
  61. [75]Pellerin D Caku A Fradet M Bouvier P Dubé J Corbin F Lovastatin corrects ERK pathway hyperactivation in fragile X syndrome: potential of platelet’s signaling cascades as new outcome measures in clinical trials Biomarkers. 2016 21 6 497 508 10.3109/1354750X.2016.1160289 27058300 · DOI
  62. [76]Bhattacharya A Mamcarz M Mullins C Choudhury A Boyle RG Smith DG Targeting translation control with p70 S6 kinase 1 inhibitors to reverse phenotypes in fragile X syndrome mice Neuropsychopharmacology. 2016 41 8 1991 2000 10.1038/npp.2015.369 26708105 PMC4908636 · DOI · Paper page
  63. [78]Kumari D Bhattacharya A Nadel J Moulton K Zeak NM Glicksman A Identification of fragile X syndrome specific molecular markers in human fibroblasts: a useful model to test the efficacy of therapeutic drugs Hum Mutat. 2014 35 12 1485 1494 10.1002/humu.22699 25224527 PMC4287266 · DOI
  64. [79]Pearce LR Alton GR Richter DT Kath JC Lingardo L Chapman J Characterization of PF-4708671, a novel and highly specific inhibitor of p70 ribosomal S6 kinase (S6K1) Biochem J. 2010 431 2 245 255 10.1042/BJ20101024 20704563 · DOI

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Thurman, A. J., Potter, L. A., Kim, K., Tassone, F., Banasik, A., Potter, S. N., Bullard, L., Nguyen, V., McDuffie, A., Hagerman, R., & Abbeduto, L.
Affiliations
  • University of California Davis Medical Center (US)
  • UC Davis Health (US)
Corresponding author
Thurman, Angela John
Venue
Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Published
2020-04-22
Volume
12
Issue
1
Pages
12-12
ISSN
  • 1866-1947 (ISSN-L)
  • 1866-1955
OpenAlex
W3016332336
Cited by
58
References
9
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 7
FWCI
6.00
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (U54HD079125)
  • National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (UL1 TR000002)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetics and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Language Development and Disorders
Keywords
fragile X syndrome, lovastatin, videoconferencing, language intervention, language development, social dysfunction, statins
MeSH terms
Adolescent, California, Child, Communication, Double-Blind Method, Female, Fragile X Syndrome, Humans, Language, Language Therapy, Lovastatin, Male, Mothers, Telecommunications, Outcome Assessment, Health Care

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review