Homocysteine is an amino acid, which plays several important roles in human physiology. A wide range of disorders, including neuropsychiatric disorders and autism, are associated with increased homocysteine levels in biological fluids. Various B vitamins: B6 (pyridoxine), B12 (cobalamin), and B9 (folic acid) are required as co-factors by the enzymes involved in homocysteine metabolism. Therefore, monitoring of homocysteine levels in body fluids of autistic children can provide information on genetic and physiological diseases, improper lifestyle (including dietary habits), as well as a variety of pathological conditions. This review presents information on homocysteine metabolism, determination of homocysteine in biological fluids, and shows abnormalities in the levels of homocysteine in the body fluids of autistic children.
Homocysteine is an amino acid which plays several important roles in human physiology and is an important biomarker for possible deficiencies of various vitamins (vitamin B6 and B12, folic acid). In this work GC-MS method was used to determine the levels of homocysteine in the urine of autistic and healthy children. The levels of homocysteine in urine samples from 34 autistic and 21 healthy children were 2.36 ± 1.24 and 0.76 ± 0.31 (mmol∙mol-1 creatinine), respectively. The higher level of homocysteine in autistic children may indicate deficiencies of folic acid and vitamins B6 and B12 in nutrition of these children. The results of this work were taken into consideration in the nutrition of autistic children treated in the Navicula Centre of Diagnosis and Therapy of Autism in Łódź (Poland).
This paper focuses on the catalytic properties of Ag/SnO₂ for low-temperature methane oxidation. The influences of the metal loading (0.2-20 wt.% Ag), support (Al₂O₃, TiO₂, SiO₂) and methane concentration (0.375-1.5%) in the oxidized mixture were investigated. It was observed that the optimal amount of silver in Ag/SnO₂ was 1 wt.%. Lower or higher amounts cause a loss in catalytic activity. SnO₂ was found to be undoubtedly the best support for the title reaction among all tested oxides. A mechanism of methane oxidation over Ag/SnO₂ was proposed.
Catalytic activity of platinum supported on SnO₂ in the reaction of CO oxidation by NO was examined. Catalysts were tested in gas mixture containing 1 vol.% of NO and 1 vol.% of CO in helium; activation procedure consisted of treatment of the catalysts with CO at 500°C. Improvement of catalytic activity after activation process was observed. The mechanisms of the oxidation and activation process with application of semiconductor resistive sensors made of Pt/SnO₂ were investigated.