Thermosensitive Chitosan Hydrogels: A Potential Strategy for Prolonged Iron Dextran Parenteral Supplementation.

Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) presents a global health challenge, impacting crucial development stages in humans and other mammals. Pigs, having physiological and metabolic similarities with humans, are a valuable model for studying and preventing anemia. Commonly, a commercial iron dextran formulation (CIDF) with iron dextran particles (IDPs) is intramuscularly administered for IDA prevention in pigs, yet its rapid metabolism limits preventive efficacy. This study aimed to develop and evaluate chitosan thermosensitive hydrogels (CTHs) as a novel parenteral iron supplementation strategy, promoting IDPs' prolonged release and mitigating their rapid metabolism. These CTHs, loaded with IDPs (0.1, 0.2, and 0.4 g of theoretical iron/g of chitosan), were characterized for IM iron supplementation. Exhibiting thermosensitivity, these formulations facilitated IM injection at ~4 °C, and its significant increasing viscosity at 25-37 °C physically entrapped the IDPs within the chitosan's hydrophobic gel without chemical bonding. In vitro studies showed CIDF released all the iron in 6 h, while CTH0.4 had a 40% release in 72 h, mainly through Fickian diffusion. The controlled release of CTHs was attributed to the physical entrapment of IDPs within the CTHs' gel, which acts as a diffusion barrier. CTHs would be an effective hydrogel prototype for prolonged-release parenteral iron supplementation.

Insects as Feed for Companion and Exotic Pets: A Current Trend.

The objective of this review was to carry out a comprehensive investigation of the benefits of incorporating insects as a pet food ingredient and the implications this can have in determining a market demand for insect-based pet foods. Black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens), mealworm larvae (Tenebrio molitor) and adult house crickets (Acheta domesticus) are currently used in pet food. These insects are widely fed to exotic pets, mainly in whole, live or dehydrated formats. They are also incorporated as meal or fat and are offered to cats and dogs as dry or wet food and treats. Scientific studies about the use of insects for dog and cat feed are scarce. Most studies are in dogs. Research shows that insect nutrients, mainly amino acids, have high digestibility, are beneficial to health, do not have any detrimental effect on the gut microbiota and are accepted by dogs. In several countries, insects are approved for use in pet food and commercialization has spread throughout the world. Pet owners are willing to try foods made with insect meal for their pets. In conclusion, the use of insects in pet food is a reality that is taking on more and more prominence.

Huevos de tinamou (nothoprocta perdicaria): una nueva alternativa en Chile / Chilean tinamou eggs (nothoprocta perdicaria): a new alternative in Chile

El objetivo de esta revisión fue comparar algunas características nutricionales y de calidad de huevos de tinamou, con huevos de gallina y codorniz. Los huevos de tinamou contienen menos extracto etéreo y proteína en yema, y similar cantidad de proteínas en clara que huevos de gallina y codorniz. La clara del huevo de tinamou contiene más hierro (0,5 mg/100g) que huevos de gallina y codorniz (0,1-0,2 mg/100g). El ácido oleico es el principal ácido graso de la yema de huevos de tinamou, al igual que los otros. El contenido de colesterol en yema de huevo de tinamou (21,2 mg/g) es mayor a los rangos descritos en huevos de gallina (10,9-16,3 mg/g) y codorniz (11,1-15,9 mg/g). El huevo de tinamou tiene un aspecto físico distinto a huevos de gallina y codorniz, la cáscara es de color chocolate oscuro, pesa en promedio 35 g, sus dimensiones son de 50 x 36 mm, y tienen una unidad Haugh inferior a lo registrado para huevos de gallina y codorniz. El huevo de tinamou es una alternativa muy nutritiva como alimento, de características nutricionales similares a huevos de gallina y codorniz, a excepción de su mayor contenido de colesterol en yema y hierro en clara.

The objective of this review was to compare the nutritional characteristics and quality of tinamou eggs. Tinamou eggs have less ether extract and protein in the yolk, they also have a similar quantity of protein in the egg white than hen and quail eggs. The egg white of the tinamou egg has more iron (0,5 mg/100g) compared to hen and quail eggs (0,1-0,2 mg/100g). Oleic acid is the main fatty acid in all three types of eggs. On the other hand, the amount of cholesterol in the tinamou yolk (21,2 mg/g) is higher than the amounts described for hen eggs (10,9-16,3 mg/g) and those of quail (11,1-15,9 mg/g). In terms of the physical characteristics, the tinamou eggshell has a chocolate color, weighs an average of 35g, has a length about 50 x 36 mm and has an inferior Haugh unity than hen and quail eggs. The tinamou egg represents a high nutritive alternative with similar nutritional characteristics compared to hen and quail eggs, with the exception of cholesterol in the yolk and iron in the egg white.

Use of Encapsulation Technology to Improve the Efficiency of an Iron Oral Supplement to Prevent Anemia in Suckling Pigs.

The objective of this study was to develop an encapsulated iron supplement for oral ingestion and to determine its effect on the iron nutrition status of suckling pigs. Encapsulated and non-encapsulated iron supplement was prepared. Seventy-two neonatal piglets were assigned to three experimental groups: (1) parenteral group (gold standard treatment), which received one dose of parenteral iron (200 mg), 2 days of age, (2) "non-encapsulated" group (as a control group), which received 4 oral doses of unencapsulated iron supplement at 2, 7, 12 and 17 days of age, and (3) "encapsulated" group, which received 4 oral doses of encapsulated iron supplement on the same days. The encapsulated and unencapsulated iron supplements contained 65.2 and 65.0 mg/iron/dose, respectively. Parenteral treatment was not sufficient to ensure an adequate iron nutritional state in piglets at the end of the lactation period, showing iron depletion (serum ferritin: 8.4 µg/L). In contrast, oral supplementation prevented the development of iron depletion. Higher serum ferritin values were observed in the encapsulated (19.9 µg/L) compared to the unencapsulated group (17.4 µg/L) (p = 0.020). In conclusion, the use of four oral doses of an encapsulated iron supplement prevents iron deficiency anemia and its previous stages in suckling pigs.

Encapsulación de hierro: Otra estrategia para la prevención o tratamiento de la anemia por deficiencia de hierro / Iron encapsulation: Another strategy for the prevention or treatment of iron deficiency anemia

RESUMEN La anemia por deficiencia de hierro afecta a un tercio de la población mundial, causando severos problemas de salud. Las estrategias de prevención y tratamiento se basan en la suplementación oral y fortificación de alimentos, pero su eficacia no ha sido la esperada. Una de las causas se debe a que los compuestos de hierro utilizados tienen baja biodisponibilidad y producen efectos indeseados. Por esto, se han buscado nuevas tecnologías que pudiesen evitar estos problemas, como la encapsulación. Esta tecnología mejora la biodisponibilidad del hierro, reduce alteraciones organolépticas de los productos fortificados, y disminuye los trastornos gastrointestinales del uso de suplementos, entre las principales ventajas. Estos productos de hierro encapsulados han sido estudiados in vitro, y también aplicados en estudios in vivo para determinar su eficacia contra la anemia por deficiencia de hierro, con promisorios resultados. Por tanto, el objetivo de esta revisión fue recopilar información acerca de las tendencias actuales de encapsulación de hierro como una herramienta para prevenir o tratar la anemia por deficiencia de hierro.

ABSTRACT Iron deficiency anemia affects one third of the world population, causing severe health problems. Prevention and treatment strategies are based on oral supplementation and fortification of foods, but the effectiveness of these strategies has not been as expected. One explanation is that the iron compounds used have low bioavailability and produce undesired effects. Therefore, new technologies that could avoid these problems, like the encapsulation, have been explored. This technology improves the bioavailability of iron, reduces organoleptic alterations of fortified products, and decreases gastrointestinal disorders related to supplement use. These encapsulated iron products have been studied in vitro and also applied in in vivo studies to determine their efficacy against iron deficiency anemia, with promising results. Therefore, the objective of this review was to gather information about current trends in iron encapsulation as a tool to prevent or treat iron deficiency anemia.