The effects of microbiome and its metabolites on body functions are complex, and in many studies we have found that the improvement of symptoms before and after treatment is accompanied by a certain change in the microbiome structure, a phenomenon that leads us to think further about the question of whether a drug is effective by targeting a certain stage of the physiological/pathological response directly, or whether a drug is effective by affecting certain signals through changes in the internal environment affecting the structure of the microbiome, or both
Importantly, the loss of cysteine was associated with the accumulation of its oxidized product, cystine, as well as Met-SO (Haenold et al
The trial lasted for 26 weeks, giving the drug ample time to reach its maximum dosage in the patients systems
Sample collection In October of 2011, our research group comprised of Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)-based physicians and experts on konzo along with research scientists collected 60 plasma samples from children affected with konzo and those who were unrelated and unaffected in Kahemba, DRC