A pilot trial of an oral drug therapy called fenobam has shown promising initial results and could be a potential new treatment option for adult patients with Fragile X syndrome (FXS).

Writing in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association, UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute researchers urge physicians to test for mutations of the fragile X gene in patients of all ages. That's because, after decades of research, it is clear that mutations in this gene cause a range of diseases, including neurodevelopmental delays and autism in children, infertility in women and neurodegenerative disease in older adults.

A UC Riverside-led team of biomedical scientists has found that a readily available drug called minocycline, used widely to treat acne and skin infections, can be used to treat Fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited cause of mental impairment and the most common cause of autism.

Lack of both the fragile X syndrome gene and one that is related could account for sleep problems associated with the disorder, which is the common cause of inherited mental impairment, said a consortium of researchers led by scientists at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Their findings appear in a report in the current issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics.

Scientists using a new drug screening method in Drosophila (fruit flies), have identified several drugs and small molecules that reverse the features of fragile X syndrome -- a frequent form of mental retardation and one of the leading known causes of autism. The discovery sets the stage for developing new treatments for fragile X syndrome.

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common hereditary form of mental retardation. Many children with FXS also suffer from attention deficit and/or hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which complicates social relationships at home and at school.

Scientists have discovered how the gene mutation responsible for fragile X syndrome--the most common inherited form of mental retardation--alters the way brain cells communicate.

An important finding has been made by McMaster researchers about Fragile X Syndrome (FXS), a sex-linked genetic disorder that affects approximately one in 4,000 males and one in 6,000 females.

Scientists have discovered a key protein in the toxic brain pathway that leads to fragile X tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS), an inherited neurodegenerative disorder. The finding, in a Drosophila (fly) model of FXTAS, could help unravel the complex mechanisms of FXTAS and lead scientists to develop therapies to target the protein. The research will be published in the Aug. 16 issue of the journal Neuron.

The interplay of two proteins that bind to messenger RNA, a molecule that mediates translation of the information encoded in genes into proteins, triggers the appearance of fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FTAX), a late-life disorder associated with the gene that causes fragile X syndrome in children, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and Emory University School of Medicine in a report that appears today in the journal Neuron.

Researchers have reported new insight into the pathology underlying a recently identified neurological disorder that strikes middle-aged adults that is caused by alterations in the same gene that causes fragile X syndrome.

Researchers have reported new insight into the pathology underlying a recently identified neurological disorder that strikes middle-aged adults that is caused by alterations in the same gene that causes fragile X syndrome.