[As presented in the previous FEAT Newsletter posting, Dr. Pangborn's published comments indicates that children who are using "no-phenol" supplements might be in danger from it. We consider Dr. Pangborn to be a credible source and have taken his warning seriously.
The responsible thing to do is to err on the side of children and make his warning public immediately upon receiving it. And we did so.

The FEAT newsletter makes it a point to use balanced, qualified information that is to be clipped and reproduce for the readers, especially on controversial matters.

Dr. Devin Houston, of Houston Nutraceuticals believes the comments made by Dr. Pangborn and Dr. Rimland are direct towards him and his company. Although Dr. Houston and his company are not mentioned in the editorials by name, the references would appear to be the case. Dr. Houston has requested an opportunity to respond to the editorials. His rebuttal is published here. The below expressed opinions of Dr. Houston, as well as those of Dr. Pangborn and Dr. Rimland, are not necessarily those of FEAT and does not indicate endorsements by the organization of any of the parties. This is for the readers' information only. -LS]

The editorial put forth by Dr. Rimland concerning autism, enzymes, the Internet, and fraud presented an interesting, if not completely factual, history of how enzyme products have come to use for those with autism. I am very disappointed that Dr. Rimland uses language to imply that I am somehow involved in an "Internet Scam", calls into question my ethics, and infers that children have somehow been harmed. I urge him to publicly retract those potentially libelous remarks as quickly as possible.

While I do agree with Dr. Rimland's recollection of events up to 1998, he is seriously mistaken in the events that followed. Since I am most assuredly not as well known as Dr. Rimland, allow me to present a brief biography.

I am a medical biochemist, with an earned Ph.D. from the Univesity of South Alabama College of Medicine. My graduate work consisted of characterizing and purifiying metabolic enzymes as a function of aging. I obtained a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Virginial Health Sciences Center, and partially funded by the American Heart Association. I subsequently accepted a position at Saint Louis University School of Medicine where I was involved in characterizing the cannabinoid (marihuana) receptor, a receptor very similar to the opiate receptor. I obtained NIH-level funding and the position of Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, and had several papers published in peer-reviewed journals. In 1997, I left academics to take a position at National Enzyme Company as Manager of Research and Development.

In 1998, Klaire Labs brought to National Enzyme a project to develop an enzyme formulation that could potentially replace the GFCF diet. This was my first introduction to autism, and had not previously realized that a dietary intervention existed for autism. I was told that Drs. Pangborn and Rimland had worked for several years to develop or find such a product, without success. I have always acknowledged that Dr. Pangborn had the concept for such a product, but could not make it a reality.

The only "notes" turned over to me was a list of requirements for the project, which I then had Klaire modify in order to develop the product. I was presented no formulation as a starting point, which was fine with me as I prefer starting from my own ideas. I and the technical staff at NEC developed the formulation which became known as SerenAid. Klaire accepted the formulation and began testing with children, while I continued analytical work of SerenAid in the lab. I found that the enzymes in SerenAid contained substantial amounts of dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP IV) and voiced this finding to Drs. Rimland and Pangborn as a possible mechanism of action for decreasing exorphin peptide levels in the digestive system of these children.

As my job was with National Enzyme, I had no further interest in SerenAid or Klaire other than to provide technical support for the product.

Contrary to Dr. Rimland's story, I never applied for a patent on SerenAid. Klaire Labs applied for and received the patent. Klaire Labs put me in the patent as a co-inventor with Dr. Randall Wilkinson, who was president of Klaire at the time.

I never asked to be on the patent, but was certainly grateful that they rewarded my efforts with the acknowledgment. I left National Enzyme in March of 2000. Lisa Clark was now president of Klaire, and brought me on as a consultant to help with the technical aspect of the business, including supporting SerenAid. If one reviews the patent awarded to Klaire for SerenAid, you will see that the patent is assigned to Klaire Labs, and not myself. Josh King was the patent attorney for Klaire. I was involved in helping with the more technical aspects of the patent, but this was long after the initial patent application was filed. So Dr. Rimland's claims that I instigated the patent process on SerenAid, or somehow profited from the patent, are false. I have never received any compensation, outside of a regular salary, for the development of SerenAid.

It is one thing to have a concept, it is quite another to make that concept a reality. Drs. Rimland and Pangborn had years to develop a viable product and could not. I made the concept a reality for them, and let them take the credit in public.

Dr. Rimland then set in motion a chain of events resulting in Lisa Clark being fired from Klaire Labs. After watching this debacle, I also left on my own volition, and started my own company, Houston Nutraceuticals, Inc. in Northwest Arkansas.

I did start a message board on Yahoo, simply because established message boards were not receptive to the idea of enzymes. In other words, we were forced to build our own board. When Kirkman Labs complained that there was a conflict of interest in my being the owner of the board and the owner of a enzyme company, I agreed and let two parents share ownership and moderation responsibilities. I have not hired a marketer, and have no idea who Dr. Rimland is referring to in his editorial. If he is referring to the moderator of the Enzymes and Autism board, then I can tell you unequivocally she is not employed by me in any manner to perform any type of work for Houston Nutraceuticals.

Any criticism by Dr. Rimland as to testing of my products for safety and efficacy is unfounded, as Peptizyde and Zyme Prime have been field tested for over a year by thousands. The safety of enzymes has been well-established by their long history of use in the food industry, and are recognized as safe products (GRAS status) by the FDA. One need not be a board-certified MD to establish whether an enzyme product is effective, but being a Ph.D with an extensive background in research is helpful. Being a parent who knows her child is getting better with a certain treatment is even better, and I will take their word as to how well a product performs.

As to No-Fenol, an enzyme product designed to help children assimilate phenolic foods, the ingredients are xylanase and CereCalase, a proprietary blend of hemicellulase, phytase, and glucanase. The mechanism of action for this product's efficacy is not based on the destruction of tyrosine or any other amino acid. These same enzymes have been found in other enzyme products, in various dosages and combinations. The supposed mechanism proposed by Pangborn is not applicable to the No-Fenol product. No-Fenol does not destroy phenols, as the enzymes mentioned above can not do such a thing. If such a product as he describes exists, I would have concerns as well, but to the best of my knowledge, no such product does exist.

Devin Houston, Ph.D.

Houston Nutraceuticals, Inc.