An object of the present invention is to provide a novel method for detecting an allergic disease (for example, allergic rhinitis or allergic conjunctivitis) and an activation state of mast cells and/or eosinophils, and a novel method for determining a therapeutic effect on an allergic disease. The present invention provides a method for detecting an allergic disease or an activation state of mast cells and/or eosinophils in the nasal cavities or eyes, comprising the step of measuring the concentration of a lipid metabolite in a biological sample of a subject. The present invention also provides a method for determining a therapeutic effect on an allergic disease, comprising the step of measuring the concentration of a lipid metabolite in a biological sample of a subject.

Described herein are methods and assays relating to the inhibition of sepiapterin reductase and measuring said inhibition by measuring the level of sepiapterin. In some embodiments, the methods can further relate to treating a subject with BH4 and/or BH2.

Disclosed herein are methods of treating HIBM in a subject comprising identifying subject in need thereof; and administering to the subject a compound, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt, ester, amide, glycol, peptidyl, or prodrug thereof, wherein the compound is a compound that is biosynthesized in a wild type individual along a biochemical pathway between glucose and sialic acid, inclusive. Also disclosed herein are vectors comprising a nucleic acid sequence that encodes a polypeptide having at least 80% sequence identity to the sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:2, recombinant cells comprising these vectors, and recombinant animals comprising the cells. In addition, methods of identifying a compound having therapeutic effect for HIBM are disclosed.

In some aspects, the disclosure relates to compositions and methods useful for the diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as leukodystrophies (e.g., Canavan Disease). In some embodiments, the methods comprise administering to a subject an N-acetylaspartate (NAA)-depleting agent or an N-acetylaspartate (NAA)-depleting agent based upon the subject's metabolic profile.

This invention relates to the in vitro differentiation of pluripotent cells into pancreatic progenitors by i) culturing pluripotent cells in a definitive endoderm (DE) medium comprising a TGFp ligand, fibroblast growth factor (FGF), bone morphogenetic protein (BMP), a PI3K inhibitor and optionally a GSK3 β inhibitor to produce a population of definitive endoderm cells, ii) culturing the definitive endoderm cells in a first pancreatic medium comprising an activin antagonist; FGF; retinoic acid; and a BMP inhibitor to produce a population of dorsal foregut cells; iii) culturing the dorsal foregut cells in a second pancreatic medium comprising FGF, retinoic acid, a BMP inhibitor, and a hedgehog signalling inhibitor, and; iv) culturing the endoderm cells in a third pancreatic medium comprising FGF. The progenitor cells thus produced may be further differentiated into pancreatic endocrine cells. These methods may be useful, for example, in producing pancreatic cells for therapy or disease modelling.

A method of measuring a metabolic activity (MA) of a cell is provided. The method comprising independently measuring in an extracellular environment of the cell, time-dependent acidification profiles due to secretion of: (i) non-volatile soluble metabolic products; (ii) non-volatile soluble metabolic products and volatile soluble metabolic products; and (iii) volatile soluble metabolic products; wherein at least one of the time dependent acidification profiles is indicative of the metabolic activity of the cell. Also provided are clinical methods which make use of the assay.

The present disclosure relates to a device for detection of gaseous amines, originating from disease in the human urogenital system. The device comprising an inner surface 1 for facing the user and outer surface 3 for facing away from the user, wherein said device comprises a removable indicator 5 of gaseous amines. The removable indicator 5 is configured to be arranged in an indicator pocket 6. The device is made of a flexible material of a shape adapted to cover orifices of the human urogenital system but not the anus.

The present invention relates to methods and compositions for treating and diagnosing disorders related to energy metabolism and the OST-PTP signaling pathway involving gamma-carboxylase, osteocalcin and adiponectin. Such disorders include, but are not limited to, metabolic syndrome, glucose intolerance, diabetes types 1 and 2, atherosclerosis and obesity.

The present invention relates to benzothiophene, benzyloxybenzylidene and indoline-2-one derivatives and the use of said derivatives in the treatment and/or prevention of tuberculosis.

Methods for identifying a compound that modulates activity of an iRhom polypeptide according to aspects of the present invention are described herein which include contacting a cell expressing an iRhom polypeptide with a test compound; and determining the effect of the compound on activity of the iRhom polypeptide. Detection of a decrease in proteolytic activity of the iRhom polypeptide indicates that the compound is capable of one or more of: reducing tumor growth, reducing tumor progression, treatment of cancer and promoting hair growth in a subject, and detecting an increase in proteolytic activity of the iRhom polypeptide indicates that the compound is capable of accelerating wound healing in a subject.