INTRODUCTION

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have impairments in emotion processing, including recognizing facial emotions. There is a significant need for medication to improve core symptoms of ASD. Bumetanide is one of the most recently used drugs in some studies of ASD to address this need. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of bumetanide on the brain response of youth with ASD while they were recognizing facial emotions using the event-related potentials (ERPs).

METHODS

Fifteen children with ASD aged between 7 to 16 years were evaluated using the childhood autism rating scale (CARS), schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia for school-age children-present and lifetime version, social responsiveness scale, Wechsler intelligence scale for children-revised form, and standard blood tests. The electrical brain response was measured while they were doing a facial emotion recognition task (FERT). After 3 months of treatment, they were assessed again regarding core symptoms and ERPs.

RESULTS

The behavioral problems of the participants decreased significantly based on CARS. With regard to behavioral performance on FERT, the accuracy of detecting emotions increased, and reaction time decreased significantly. The amplitude of N170, EPN, and N250 increased, and latency for N170 and N250 decreased significantly in some electrodes. There were no serious side effects.

CONCLUSION

In this study, bumetanide improved behavioral symptoms and recognition of facial emotions. Also, brain function was improved based on the ERP components. So, bumetanide can be used safely in children and adolescents with ASD to improve the main symptoms of the disorder.