Effect of l-Carnosine as adjunctive therapy in the management of children with autism spectrum disorder: a randomized controlled study

l-Carnosine is an amino acid that acts as an anti-oxidant, anti-toxic and neuroprotective agent. There is a paucity of data about the effectiveness of l-Carnosine in the management of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children. This study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of l-Carnosine as adjunctive therapy in the management of ASD. This was a randomized controlled trial. Children aged 3–6 years with a diagnosis of mild to moderate ASD were assigned to standard care arm (occupational and speech therapy) and intervention care arm (l-Carnosine, 10–15 mg/kg in 2 divided doses) plus standard care treatment. The children were assessed at the baseline and the end of 2 months for the scores of Childhood Autism Rating Scale, Second Edition—Standard Version (CARS2-ST), Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC), BEARS sleep screening tool and 6-item Gastrointestinal Severity Index (6-GSI). Of the sixty-seven children enrolled, sixty-three children had completed the study. No statistically significant difference (p > 0.05) was observed for any of the outcome measures assessed. Supplementation of l-Carnosine did not improve the total score of CARS2-ST, ATEC, BEARS sleep screening tool and 6-GSI scores of children with ASD. Further investigations are needed with more objective assessments to critically validate the effectiveness of l-Carnosine on ASD children for more decisive results.

     

Regulation of the phosphorylation of calpain II and its inhibitor

Phosphorylation of calpain II (or its inhibitor) by the catalytic subunit of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase (A-PK), cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase (G-PK), and protein kinase C (PK-C) was analyzed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and autoradiography. Among these protein kinases, the catalytic subunit of A-PK exhibited the strongest phosphorylations of both calpain II and its inhibitor. Arachidonic acid and staurosporine effectively inhibited phosphorylation regardless the type of kinase tested. Despite its lack of effect on the phosphorylation of calpain II by the catalytic subunit of A-PK, sphingosine moderately enhanced the phosphorylation of calpain II by G-PK. Other agents, including phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol and 1, 2-dioleoyl-sn-glycerol, had no significant effect.     

Regulation of Staphylococcus protease using complement, interferon and immunoglobulin as substrates.

The effects of various agents on the cleavage of serum albumin, interferon, immunoglobulin and complement component C1q by the extracellular protease from Staphylococcus aureus were analysed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Arachidonic acid moderately stimulated the proteolysis of serum albumin, interferon and complement component. Phosphatidic acid effectively enhanced the proteolysis of serum albumin and IgG, whereas it inhibited the cleavage of IgM. The proteolysis of IgG was appreciably enhanced by sphingosine. In contrast, phosphatidyl choline and phosphatidyl glycerol were shown to have an inhibitory effect on the proteolysis of IgG and IgM. Phosphatidyl serine, phosphatidyl inositol and phosphatidyl ethanolamine also inhibited the proteolysis of IgG. The failure of any of these agents to exert a persistent effect on the cleavage of all substrates, revealed the complexity of the interactions among the agent, the substrate and the protease.     

The human homologue of unc-93 maps to chromosome 6q27 – characterisation and analysis in sporadic epithelial ovarian cancer

Background  

In sporadic ovarian cancer, we have previously reported allele loss at D6S193 (62%) on chromosome 6q27, which suggested the presence of a putative tumour suppressor gene. Based on our data and that from another group, the minimal region of allele loss was between D6S264 and D6S149 (7.4 cM). To identify the putative tumour suppressor gene, we established a physical map initially with YACs and subsequently with PACs/BACs from D6S264 to D6S149 . To accelerate the identification of genes, we sequenced the entire contig of approximately 1.1 Mb. Seven genes were identified within the region of allele loss between D6S264 and D6S149 .