Preclinical Studies
Proof of concept (Schaller, 2010; Meziane, 2015)
(Schaller, 2010 ; Meziane, 2015)
Neonatal administration of oxytocin to Magel2 KO mice (PW-like)
Preclinical studies of the disease in animal models have shown that early administration of oxytocin:
– Partially normalises the oxytocinergic system
– Reduces mortality due to weak suckling
– Reduces the deficits in social interaction and learning ability that usually occur in untreated adult mice
These findings support the hypothesis that early administration of oxytocin in children with Prader-Willi syndrome could have a major impact on restoring feeding ability but also on long-term social behaviour.