Scientists in the US say they are getting ready to publish the results of a trial on a food enzyme as an autism treatment.
Researchers at New York drug firm Curemark are still testing the enzyme in a new trial. The enzyme is known as CM-AT.
Dr Joan Fallon: promising final data from a trial on a food enzyme used as an autism treatment
The trial is called the Blüm Study. It is focused on children with autism who have low levels of the enzyme chymotrypsin.
Enzyme improved irritability
The company already carried out an earlier trial in 2011. This showed that the enzyme improved irritability.
Curemark has yet to publish the results from this research. Dr Joan Fallon is the company’s chief executive. In an email she said the company was “finalising” the results of the earlier trial.
She wrote: “We are in the process of finalising the publication of the data.”
Chymotrypsin breaks down protein into amino acids that the body cannot make on its own.
Sprinkled on food
The drug is a powder form of chymotrypsin and similar enzymes that consumers can sprinkle on food.
The researchers say amino acids work as building blocks for chemical messengers in the brain. Some children with autism may lack these amino acids.
By releasing essential amino acids, CM-AT restores levels of these chemical messengers in the brain, say researchers.
Curemark said the research focuses on the relationship between the gut and the brain.
It is still recruiting children for its ongoing study. Researchers hope to enroll 300 children.
The Blüm Study is a phase III trial. Phase III trials are designed to provide a definitive assessment of a drug’s effectiveness.
The study involves children aged three to eight across the US. Curemark said its earlier study established that the drug was safe.
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Published: 3 July 2017
