No abstract

To determine the changes in Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in addition to measuring the changes in the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) which considered as antioxidant enzymes in autistic children receiving melatonin supplementation to evaluate its antioxidant role in autism. A follow-up study was performed in therapeutics and clinical pharmacy Department, Baghdad College of Medical Sciences, Baghdad - Iraq. The study was performed on 55 autistic children who had recruited from several private institutions specialized in autistic children care, Baghdad, Iraq between June 2018 and November 2018. The levels of melatonin, MDA, SOD and CAT were measured in the serum of 55 patients before and after receiving melatonin supplementation for three months. The results revealed statistically significant differences in the levels of melatonin, MDA, SOD and CAT between patients before and after receiving melatonin supplement. Furthermore, melatonin levels showed significant positive correlations with both SOD and CAT in addition to a significant positive correlation between SOD and CAT while MDA levels showed significant negative correlations with melatonin, SOD and CAT in autistic patients before and after receiving the supplement. Melatonin levels, CAT and SOD activity, showed to be improved significantly by melatonin supplementation with a concomitant reduction in the levels of MDA as an indicator of a decrease in oxidative stress in autistic children.

No abstract

To assess the role of γ-Glutamyltransferase (GGT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in the diagnosis of Gaucher disease (GD) and monitoring the response of liver and bone to the treatment with enzyme replacement therapy (ERT).A case-control study was done on 67 children age range from 3-10 years who had Gaucher disease recruited from the Pediatric Department and Unit of rare disease at Al Imamain Al-Kathemeaain medical city,Gastroenterology and Hepatology Teaching Hospital, Children Welfare Hospital Consultation Clinic and Central Child’s Teaching Hospital. The activity of Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) and γ- GlutamylTransferase (GGT) enzymes were measured in the samples of 67 Gaucher patients who were categorized as newly diagnosed untreated patients (n=9), patients receiving ERT for 3-5 months (n=18) 6-12 months (n=20) and patients receiving ERT for more than one year (n=20) and compared with twenty age-matched control subjects. The data indicated that the levels of both ALP and GGT in GD patients (216.82 ± 64.51, 35.94 ± 7.11; respectively) were significantly higher than those of controls (163.17 ± 49.34, 28.33 ± 3.36; respectively). Levels of ALP showed to return to levels comparable to those of controls after more than one year of treatment, while GGT levels become comparable to controls’ levels within 6-12 months. Negative significant (p<0.05) correlations were obtained between the levels of ALP and GGT activities with the duration of receiving ERT. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve results revealed that GGTshowed a higher area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity than ALP activities in all studied groups and subgroups.The possibility of using ALP and GGT as supportive diagnostic markers and as powerful markers for the monitoring of the liver and bone improvement with the administration of ERT.