It is carnosine not carnitine/first fish -now red meat and chicken?!!

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone!

I wish I knew more too - I've had a crazy day with my horse and pony

(for real -especially Coco the loco pony!!) however I'm hoping we'll hear

back from the two people that do know more from our group (anyone

else?) and I sent my last post to Dr. Chez and his assistant so maybe

they will be nice enough to answer right away. I have the info they

sent to me below.

Below is the clinical trial information and information about

carnosine from Dr. Chez -and part of my message from Tue May 14,

2002 9:51 pm -and this is just the first week I've started giving

Tanner the carnosine at 200 mg a day which is one capsule. Since

then I've increased Tanner to 2 capsules a day (400 mg) and this is

what happened just now (I posted earlier how Glenn commented on how

Tanner's speech improved on my last post) I just put Tanner on the phone

with Jeannie Buesser who runs the Apraxia group of North Jersey and

Tanner told her what he told me -that he went to the zoo on a bus and

that him and his best friend Tyree were playing and had a little

fight and that Tyree punched him in the stomach and then he punched

Tyree in the stomach and then Tyree scratched his face but it doesn't

really hurt and they are still friends. (!!!!) Ok -not that I'm not

upset that my five year old has a scratch on his cheek from obvious 2

finger marks from another child who is his best friend -and that they

are punching each other in the stomach and he says nobody noticed

(they went to the Turtle Back Zoo today) but that is overshadowed

by...he was able to express all those complex thoughts without

stopping and saying " I forget mommy " like he sometimes does if it's

too much to say.

So I'm very excited about putting the carnosine together with the

ProEFA from just what I've seen so far even though it's probably too

soon to tell (where did we hear that before?) I'm just wondering if I

can go over to the local health food store and buy carnosine instead

since the bottle I bought online at http://www.carn-aware.com only

has 60 capsules in it at 200 mg each? Is there any difference -do we

need to worry about purity like we do with fish oil?

I looked up carnosine online and there are some studies going on in

the UK with it for anti aging (and so I may want to try it too) Not sure

how reputable and about others and don't have much time to look into it today

-so here

is the link http://www.med4u.co.uk/BM_HT_completherpy_supp.htm and I

did read this same anti aging info about it elsewhere too. I also

read at med4U " As mentioned earlier, this is a new supplement and our

experience in using it is limited. However, we do not expect any side

effects or dangerous long-term problems, as this is a naturally-

occurring product, found in our muscles and brain. If you do not like

taking tablets, you may want to get your extra supplies of carnosine

from red meat or chicken. "

Here is the info from my last post -including the info sent to me

from Dr. Chez again!:

OK the good news about carnosine is that it's easy to give. It

doesn't have a taste or smell really so you just pull the capsule

apart and then add it to water. For some reason -Tanner seems to

mind it more than the fish oil however because the powder doesn't mix

into the water very well. I only give him one capsule a day (fish

oil is to help him talk better -I tell him this will help him to read

better)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study of L-Carnosine Supplementation

in Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders.

G. Chez, Lake Bluff, IL, United States, Cathleen P. Buchanan,

Lake Bluff, IL, United States, L. Komen, Lake Bluff, IL, United

States, Marina Becker, Lake Bluff, IL, United States

Objective: L-Carnosine is an amino acid dipeptide that may enhance

frontal lobe function. We therefore sought to investigate whether L-

Carnosine supplementation for children with Autistic Spectrum

Disorders (ASD) results in observable, objective changes in language

and/or behavior in contrast to placebo.

Design/Methods: Thirty-one children (21 M, mean age= 7.45; range =

3.2-12.5 yrs )meeting inclusion criteria were enrolled in an 8 week

blinded trial of either 400 mg BID powdered L-Carnosine or placebo.

Children were assessed at a pediatric neurology clinic with the

Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), the Gilliam Autism Rating

Scale (GARS), the Expressive and Receptive One-Word Picture

Vocabulary tests (E/ROWPVT), and biweekly parental Clinical Global

Impression of Change (CGI), at baseline and 8 week endpoint.

Results: Children who were on placebo (n=17) did not show

statistically significant changes on any of the outcome measures.

After 8 weeks on L-Carnosine, children (n=14) showed statistically

significant improvements on the GARS total score, GARS Behavior,

Socialization, and Communication subscales, and the ROWPVT (all

p's<.05). EOWPVT and CARS showed trends in improvements, which were

supported by parental CGI.

Conclusions: Oral supplementation with L-Carnosine resulted in

demonstrable improvements in autistic behaviors as well as increases

in language comprehension that reached statistical significance.

Although the mechanism of action of the amino acid is not well

understood, it is believed that it acts to modulate neurotransmission

and affect metal ion transfer of zinc and copper in the entorhinal

cortex. This may enhance neurological function or act in a

neuroprotective fashion.

What is Carnosine?

The supplement that you are interested in learning more about

contains 200mg powdered carnosine, as well as powdered Vitamin E (25

IU) and powdered Zinc (2.5 mg). The exact doseage that is correct

for your child should be established by your doctor in coordination

with Dr. Chez, who pioneered the use of this supplement in

children with developmental delays.

L-carnosine, or " carnosine " is an amino acid dipeptide made up of

histidine and alanine. The naturally-occuring amino acid is found

within the human body, a by-product of proteins digested within the

body. The deep frontal part of the brain (entorhinal cortex) is

believed to be a site where carnosine tends to accumulate. It may

interact with zinc in that area, as well as having effects on GABA, a

brain neurotransmitter, which by a complex chemical reaction forms

homo-carnosine.

What Studies Have Been Done with Carnosine?

Rat and animal studies have been done with carnosine looking

at " neuroprotection. " These investigations aimed to examine

protective action since carnosine may be protective of muscle and

nerve function. There have been no studies that have shown any

evidence of toxicity or teratogenicity in animals where carnosine has

been studied. Few scientifically-validated human studies have been

conducted, however, and most of the information one finds about

carnosine's claims are of the quality found on the intenet. Claims

have been made for generic carnosine/carnosine formulations aiding in

combatting a range of maladies from Alzheimer's to body building.

Why Carnosine, then?

Recent MRI studies by Petroff and colleagues (2001) examining levels

of brain chemistry showed a relationship between homo-carnosine and

GABA in temporal lobe and generalized myoclonic epilepsies. These

authors described homo-carnosine levels that may correlate with

seizure control even when GABA response is defective in human

studies. Dr. Chez was intrigued by the results of this study, and

thus began a study in June, 2001 that aimed to test if supplementing

carnosine orally could enhance seizure protection in children who

were already on anticonvulsants and who had recurrent seizures

despite being on standard drug therapy. He hypothesized that the

addition of carnosine could decrease seizure frequency and so began

an open-label study of carnosine which he acquired via an industrial

chemical company.

The Open-Label Study

A total of 75 children, who had " failed " multiple antiepileptic

medications in an effort to stop their seizures (including steroids

and the Ketogenic diet) with histories of partial or generalized

epilepsy entered the open-label study. The majority had fronto-

temporal lobe seizures, or generalized epilepsy. Approximately 25%

had EEGs to directly compare before and after starting the

carnosine. Many patients had reductions in seizure frequency, but

without EEG correlation. Two sisters with hypsarrythmia/Lennox-

Gastaut variant both showed dramatic improvements in EEG amplitude,

spike frequency, and background activity. In three other patients

with primary or secondary generalized spike and wave patterns or

Lennox-Gastaut type patterns, EEG amplitude and spike frequency

improved with carnosine in dosages of 800-2,000 mg. per day. Dosage

was titrated upward depending upon bodyweight. No side effects were

reported.

Unexpectedly, parental diaries showed a pattern of comments related

to gains in cognitive domains including language, alertness, energy

levels, and even gross motor ability. Dr. Chez was motivated by such

reports in addition to comments from other professionals that worked

simultaneoulsy with the children (e.g., speech therapists) who,

unaware that children were on the new supplement, spontaneoulsy

stated that individual children were showing incremental gains not

previously seen. Expressive language was described as more fluent,

eye contact more frequent, and interest in the environment was more

prominent. Dr. Chez thought that this supplement could be of benefit

to children with autism or PDD and so began to give it to children

with such diagnoses in an open-label trial. Indeed, parents reported

benefits in their children after as few as 2 weeks, in the areas of

socialization, expressive language, alertness level, energy level,

adaptation to change, and curiously, gross motor planning.

The Double-Blind Study

Because of the remarkable cognitive improvements in language, speech

production and school performance as well as social alertness, Dr.

Chez felt it important to study the effect of the supplement in

children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders. Children were included in

this study if they had histories of abnormal EEG, and had previously

responded to cognitive-enhancing dementia medications (as part of a

controlled study at the office) or to anti-convulsants. A double-

blind placebo controlled study with carnosine was begun. Children

were randomly placed on either active carnosine or placebo.

Expressive and receptive language measures, two autism rating scales,

and parent rating analog scales were administered at the start and

completion of the study. Results of this study indicated clinically

meaningful changes in many aspects of autistic features, and also

showed that the carnosine supplement improved children's expressive

and receptive language significantly. This is the only dietary

supplement to date studied in a double-blind fashion in autism.

Who Benefits and What are the Side Effects?

The majority of children with either epilepsy or autism treated in

open label studies by Dr. Chez benefitted from carnosine

supplementation. Dr. Chez estimates that approximately 10% of

children who have been on the carnosine supplement have had reports

of no improvement. A very small percentage (less than 5% of children

with epilepsy or autistic spectrum disorders) have shown increased

physical hyperactivity or verbal hyperactivity, but we are unable to

ascertain if these reports are directly related to the carnosine

supplement. No sleep disturbances were reported as a result of

carnosine therapy even in dosages up to 3,000 mg. a day. No

abdominal side effects, skin rashes, or any changes in anticonvulsant

blood levels, liver functions or hematological studies. No patients

had any urinary changes or bowel habit changes from the carnosine.

Many children on the autistic spectrum were reported to increase

their range of food choices with an improved range of appetite.

Responses have been seen in generalized epilepsies, focal seizure

disorders, autism, PDD, and head injury to date. Because of its

effect on entorhinal cortex, improvements in Alzheimer's disease or

other frontal lobe encephalopathy may be possible. Any syndrome that

involves apraxia or expressive language delay may benefit from this.

Concurrent studies are currently being run or planned in areas of

attention disorder, Tourette's syndrome, and various learning

disability syndromes of the nonverbal type.

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