Can Vitamin Supplementation Affect Development in Children with Down Syndrome?

Patients with trisomy 21 not only have developmental delays in early childhood but also have premature Alzheimer-like changes in early adulthood. Postmortem studies of infants with trisomy 21 have shown loss of neurons and structural abnormalities of the brain during late gestation and early postnatal life. Two enzymes encoded on chromosome 21 — copper/zinc superoxide dismutase and cystathionine β-synthase — might be involved with this neuronal damage. Increased activity of superoxide dismutase can increase concentrations of hydrogen peroxide, leading to oxidative stress and neuronal damage, and increased activity of cystathionine β-synthase can cause folate deficiency, leading to another form of stress to neurons.

To determine whether suppl…