Infrequent Intranasal Oxytocin Followed by Positive Social Interaction Improves Symptoms in Autistic Children: A Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial.

Le J, Zhang L, Zhao W, Zhu S, Lan C, Kou J, Zhang Q, Zhang Y, Li Q, Chen Z, Fu M, Montag C and 4 more

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Zhang R, Yang W, Becker B, Kendrick KM

Psychotherapy and psychosomatics11 May 2022Cited by 79 (Europe PMC)

PMID35545057DOI10.1159/000524543PepBankPUB-35545057

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Summary

The text of this summary is not shown here, because the article license does not allow reuse. Read it at the source (opens in a new tab)

Text rights: CC BY-NC. Results still quote short attributed sentences.

Results from this study8

8 results from studies that gave the peptide. 8 results from people.

01HumanRandomized controlled trialEfficacy outcome
In children with autism spectrum disorder, intranasal oxytocin improved the total ADOS-2 score compared with placebo.
In plain wordsIn children with autism, oxytocin spray improved the ADOS-2 autism score more than placebo.
Peptide
Oxytocin
Outcome
Not applicableADOS-2 total score
Study
n = 41
Comparator
Placebo
Analysis
Primary
Outcome group
Autism core symptoms · Mental health and mood
Studied dose
Dose not stated · intranasal · 6 weeksAs given in this study (human).
Source sentences
Summary
Significant improvements were found for oxytocin relative to placebo in primary outcome measures (total ADOS-2 and SRS-2 scores, ps < 0.001
1 context sentence(design, population, supporting numbers)
Summary · context
A pilot double-blind, randomized, crossover design trial was completed including 41 children with ASD aged 3-8 years.
Report a problemFND-3554505701
02HumanRandomized controlled trialEfficacy outcome
In children with autism spectrum disorder, intranasal oxytocin improved the total SRS-2 score compared with placebo.
In plain wordsIn children with autism, oxytocin spray improved the SRS-2 social responsiveness score more than placebo.
Peptide
Oxytocin
Outcome
Not applicableSRS-2 total score
Study
n = 41
Comparator
Placebo
Analysis
Primary
Outcome group
Autism core symptoms · Mental health and mood
Studied dose
Dose not stated · intranasal · 6 weeksAs given in this study (human).
Source sentences
Summary
Significant improvements were found for oxytocin relative to placebo in primary outcome measures (total ADOS-2 and SRS-2 scores, ps < 0.001
1 context sentence(design, population, supporting numbers)
Summary · context
A pilot double-blind, randomized, crossover design trial was completed including 41 children with ASD aged 3-8 years.
Report a problemFND-3554505702
03HumanRandomized controlled trialEfficacy outcome
In children with autism spectrum disorder, intranasal oxytocin improved behavioral adaptability compared with placebo.
In plain wordsIn children with autism, oxytocin spray improved behavioral adaptability more than placebo.
Peptide
Oxytocin
Outcome
Not applicableBehavioral adaptability
Study
n = 41
Comparator
Placebo
Analysis
Secondary
Outcome group
Autism core symptoms · Mental health and mood
Studied dose
Dose not stated · intranasal · 6 weeksAs given in this study (human).
Source sentences
Summary
Significant improvements were found for oxytocin relative to placebo in primary outcome measures (total ADOS-2 and SRS-2 scores, ps < 0.001) and in behavioral adaptability
1 context sentence(design, population, supporting numbers)
Summary · context
A pilot double-blind, randomized, crossover design trial was completed including 41 children with ASD aged 3-8 years.
Report a problemFND-3554505703
04HumanRandomized controlled trialEfficacy outcome
In children with autism spectrum disorder, intranasal oxytocin improved repetitive behavior measures compared with placebo.
In plain wordsIn children with autism, oxytocin spray improved repetitive behavior measures more than placebo.
Peptide
Oxytocin
Outcome
Not applicableRepetitive behavior
Study
n = 41
Comparator
Placebo
Analysis
Secondary
Outcome group
Autism core symptoms · Mental health and mood
Studied dose
Dose not stated · intranasal · 6 weeksAs given in this study (human).
Source sentences
Summary
Significant improvements were found for oxytocin relative to placebo in primary outcome measures (total ADOS-2 and SRS-2 scores, ps < 0.001) and in behavioral adaptability and repetitive behavior secondary measures
1 context sentence(design, population, supporting numbers)
Summary · context
A pilot double-blind, randomized, crossover design trial was completed including 41 children with ASD aged 3-8 years.
Report a problemFND-3554505704
05HumanRandomized controlled trialMechanism
In children with autism spectrum disorder given oxytocin, altered SRS-2 scores were associated with increased saliva oxytocin concentrations.
In plain wordsIn children with autism given oxytocin, changes in SRS-2 scores were linked to higher oxytocin in saliva.
Peptide
Oxytocin
Outcome
Not applicableSaliva oxytocin concentration and SRS-2 change
Study
n = 41
Outcome group
Receptor activity and mechanism · Mental health and mood
Studied dose
Dose not stated · intranasal · 6 weeksAs given in this study (human).
Source sentences
Summary
Altered SRS-2 scores were associated with increased saliva oxytocin concentrations.
1 context sentence(design, population, supporting numbers)
Summary · context
A pilot double-blind, randomized, crossover design trial was completed including 41 children with ASD aged 3-8 years.
Report a problemFND-3554505705
06HumanRandomized controlled trialEfficacy outcome
In children with autism spectrum disorder, oxytocin increased time spent viewing dynamic social compared with geometric stimuli.
In plain wordsIn children with autism, oxytocin increased the time spent looking at social images compared with geometric images.
Peptide
Oxytocin
Outcome
IncreaseTime viewing social versus geometric stimuli
Study
n = 41
Comparator
Placebo
Outcome group
Autism core symptoms · Mental health and mood
Studied dose
Dose not stated · intranasal · 6 weeksAs given in this study (human).
Source sentences
Summary
oxytocin significantly increased time spent viewing dynamic social compared to geometric stimuli
1 context sentence(design, population, supporting numbers)
Summary · context
A pilot double-blind, randomized, crossover design trial was completed including 41 children with ASD aged 3-8 years.
Report a problemFND-3554505706
07HumanRandomized controlled trialEfficacy outcome
In children with autism spectrum disorder, oxytocin increased time spent viewing the eyes of angry, happy and neutral faces.
In plain wordsIn children with autism, oxytocin increased the time spent looking at the eyes in faces.
Peptide
Oxytocin
Outcome
IncreaseTime viewing the eyes of angry, happy and neutral faces
Study
n = 41
Comparator
Placebo
Outcome group
Autism core symptoms · Mental health and mood
Studied dose
Dose not stated · intranasal · 6 weeksAs given in this study (human).
Source sentences
Summary
Additionally, oxytocin significantly increased time spent viewing dynamic social compared to geometric stimuli and the eyes of angry, happy, and neutral expression faces.
1 context sentence(design, population, supporting numbers)
Summary · context
A pilot double-blind, randomized, crossover design trial was completed including 41 children with ASD aged 3-8 years.
Report a problemFND-3554505707
08HumanRandomized controlled trialSafety outcome
In children with autism spectrum disorder, no adverse side effects of intranasal oxytocin treatment were reported.
In plain wordsIn children with autism, no side effects of oxytocin spray were reported.
Peptide
Oxytocin
Outcome
No significant changeAdverse side effects
Study
n = 41
Outcome group
Adverse events · Mental health and mood
Studied dose
Dose not stated · intranasal · 6 weeksAs given in this study (human).
Source sentences
Summary
There were no adverse side effects of oxytocin treatment.
1 context sentence(design, population, supporting numbers)
Summary · context
A pilot double-blind, randomized, crossover design trial was completed including 41 children with ASD aged 3-8 years.
Report a problemFND-3554505708

AI wrote and checked these results. AI can make mistakes, so check important results against the source.

Version history

PepBank keeps every version of the data on this study. Status changes from Retraction Watch, Europe PMC and Crossref are listed with their source.

Version 2Current
11 Oct 2026, 00:50 UTC
Study results updated
Version 1
9 Oct 2026, 02:48 UTC
First added · source update from Europe PMC

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