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US 7,153,692 B2Granted
Diagnostic methods for determining susceptibility to convulsive conditions
AssigneeQueen's University at Kingston
InventorsAllyson J. Campbell, Donald F. Weaver, Angela P. Lyon, John R. Carran
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Abstract
The present invention exploits the discovery that amounts of uracil and thymine metabolites, especially β-aminoisobutyric acid, in various bodily fluids, especially urine, are correlated with the occurrence of epilepsy when compared to matched control subjects. Analytical and diagnostic protocols, including a novel high performance liquid chromatography system, for use in the invention are disclosed.
Claims21
A method of diagnosing a convulsive condition or susceptibility thereto in a subject comprising the steps of
- analyzing a urine from a subject for the presence or amount of a β-amino acid, or the relative amount of a β-amino acid;
- and
- diagnosing the subject as at risk of a convulsive condition when the amount of said β-amino acid indicates a likelihood of same in said subject,
- wherein said β-amino acid is β-alanine or β-aminoisobutyric acid, and wherein said diagnosing step is positive when the concentration of said β-alanine is greater than 0.8 μmol/mmol creatinine or said β-aminoisobutyric acid is greater than 10 μmol/mmol creatinine.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.