Lack of benefit of intravenous synthetic human secretin in the treatment of autism.
Secretin IV is no better than salt water for autism—spend your time on proven teaching methods instead.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Doctors gave 42 children with autism one shot of secretin through an IV.
Half got real secretin. Half got salt water. No one knew which was which.
The team then tracked language, behavior, and autism signs for weeks.
What they found
Kids who got secretin looked the same as kids who got salt water.
No measure moved: not words spoken, not tantrums, not social eye contact.
The drug simply did nothing extra.
How this fits with other research
Connell et al. (2004) later lined up 13 secretin trials, including this one. All but one showed the same flat line.
Jones et al. (2010) tried daily digestive-enzyme pills and also saw no change. Together, the two studies show that both IV and pill “gut fixes” fail.
Senel (2010) asked parents about trying secretin. Many felt it helped, yet the blind trials say otherwise. The mismatch is why we run controlled tests.
Why it matters
Families still hear internet claims that secretin “cures” autism. You can now state, with data, that the shot is no better than saline. Save your clinical hours for evidence-based language and social-skills training that actually move the needle.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The objective of this study was to determine if an intravenous infusion of synthetic human secretin improves language and behavioral symptoms in children with autism. Forty-two children with the diagnosis of autism were randomized to one of two groups in this double-blind cross-over trial. One group received 2 IU/kg of intravenous synthetic human secretin at the first visit, followed by an equal volume of intravenous saline placebo at week 6. The other group received treatments in the reverse order. All children were evaluated at weeks 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 with standardized assessments of language, behavior, and autism symptomatology. There were no significant differences in the mean scores on any measure of language, behavior, or autism symptom severity after treatment with secretin compared to treatment with placebo. The results of this study do not support secretin as a treatment for autism.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2002 · doi:10.1023/a:1021202930206