Previous studies suggest that complementary and alternative medical (CAM) therapy use in children with chronic illnesses is higher than in children in the general population. In this study, we investigated patterns of CAM therapy use in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD, n = 50) as compared to a control population of children with no ASD (n = 50). Over half of the parents in the ASD group reported using, or had used at least one CAM therapy for their child (52%) as compared to 28% of the control group (P = 0.024). Seventy percent of therapies used in the ASD group were biologically based therapies comprised of special diets or supplements, and parents felt that 75% of the therapies used were beneficial.

A solid-phase organic synthesis method has been developed for the preparation of N-substituted-beta-aminopropionic acid oligomers or beta-peptoids 1. Treatment of polymer-bound 4-(benzyloxy)benzyl acrylate 2 with primary amines afforded N-substituted beta-alanines 3. Polymer loadings and product conversions were determined by direct cleavage of resin-bound materials and measurement by (1)H NMR with an internal standard. The NMR method was used to establish loading of all resin-bound intermediates including acrylic acid. Acylation with acryloyl chloride followed by Michael addition of primary amines to the acrylamide allowed preparation of di-beta-peptoids. By a linear set of seven reactions, trimeric N-benzyl-beta-aminopropionic acid was prepared in 67% overall yield. Single-bead FT-IR microspectroscopy was used to acquire spectra of the resin bound mono-beta-peptoids, di-beta-peptoids, and acrylamide intermediates. A combinatorial library of defined mixtures of tri-beta-peptoids was prepared by mixing equimolar amounts of the mono-beta-peptoid resins and carrying them through two sequences of the acylation-Michael addition. The identity of a sample mixture was determined by LC-MS analysis of the cleavage product.

Leucoplasts were isolated from the endosperm of developing castor (Ricinis communis) endosperm using a discontinuous Percoil gradient. The rate of fatty acid synthesis was highest when malate was the precursor, at 155 nanomoles acetyl-CoA equivalents per milligram protein per hour. Pyruvate and acetate also were precursors of fatty acid synthesis, but the rates were approximately 4.5 and 120 times less, respectively, than when malate was the precursor. When acetate was supplied to leucoplasts, exogenous ATP, NADH, and NADPH were required to obtain maximal rates of fatty acid synthesis. In contrast, the incorporation of malate and pyruvate into fatty acids did not require a supply of exogenous reductant. Further, the incorporation of radiolabel into fatty acids by leucoplasts supplied with radiolabeled malate, pyruvate, or acetate was reduced upon coincubation with cold pyruvate or malate. The data suggest that malate and pyruvate may be good in vivo sources of carbon for fatty acid synthesis and that, in these preparations, leucoplast fatty acid synthesis may be limited by activity at or downstream of the acetyl-CoA carboxylase reaction.or leucoplast glycolytic enzymes are more than adequate to account for the triacylglycerol synthesis of castor endosperm (17). However, glycolytic intermediates have not been well characterized as carbon sources for fatty acid synthesis (18). In this study, we present data regarding the kinetics and exogenous cofactor requirements for fatty acid synthesis in isolated leucoplast preparations using pyruvate, malate, and acetate as carbon sources. We show that malate and pyruvate support much higher rates of fatty acid synthesis than does acetate and the metabolism of both these substrates alleviates any requirement for externally added reductant. Based on the measurement of leucoplast-associated NADP+-malic enzyme activity, we suggest that cytosolic malate may be a source of carbon for fatty acid synthesis in vivo. MATERIALS AND METHODS Plant MaterialCastor plants (Ricinus communis L. cv Baker 296) were greenhouse grown under natural light supplemented with 16 h fluorescent light.Storage lipids make up 45 to 50% of the dry weight of castor bean (Ricinus communis) endosperm (9, 15). During development, the conversion of sucrose to triacylglycerols is the major metabolic activity of this tissue (9). Dennis (11) presented a model indicating the possible pathways of triacylglycerol synthesis from sucrose. The model is primarily based on enzyme compartmentation studies (12,17,22,23,27) and suggests that glycolytic intermediates may cross the leucoplast membrane and serve as carbon skeletons for fatty acid synthesis. Acetate is another possible precursor.Acetate incorporation into fatty acids has been used to study the cofactor requirements for fatty acid biosynthesis (6,16,18,25,26). It is unlikely that acetate is the in vivo carbon precursor of fatty acid synthesis because of its relatively low cellular concentration and the low efficiency of acetate utilization for de novo fat...

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recommends the measurement of specific plant components for compositional assessments of new biotechnology-derived crops. These components include proximates, nutrients, antinutrients, and certain crop-specific secondary metabolites. A considerable literature on the natural variability of these components in conventional and biotechnology-derived crops now exists. Yet the OECD consensus also suggests measurements of any metabolites that may be directly associated with a newly introduced trait. Therefore, steps have been initiated to assess natural variation in metabolites not typically included in the OECD consensus but which might reasonably be expected to be affected by new traits addressing, for example, nutritional enhancement or improved stress tolerance. The compositional study reported here extended across a diverse genetic range of maize hybrids derived from 48 inbreds crossed against two different testers. These were grown at three different, but geographically similar, locations in the United States. In addition to OECD analytes such as proximates, total amino acids and free fatty acids, the levels of free amino acids, sugars, organic acids, and selected stress metabolites in harvested grain were assessed. The major free amino acids identified were asparagine, aspartate, glutamate, and proline. The major sugars were sucrose, glucose, and fructose. The most predominant organic acid was citric acid, with only minor amounts of other organic acids detected. The impact of genetic background and location was assessed for all components. Overall, natural variation in free amino acids, sugars, and organic acids appeared to be markedly higher than that observed for the OECD analytes.