Combination of vitamin B12 active forms improved fetal growth in Wistar rats through up-regulation of placental miR-16 and miR-21 levels.

AIM: Epidemiological studies have indicated importance of folate and vitamin (B12) during pregnancy. Also available evidence on efficacy of B12 forms viz. Cyanocobalamin (Cbl), Methylcobalamin (MeCbl), Adenosylcobalamin (AdCbl) and Hydroxycobalamin (HCbl) in preventing or treating cobalamin deficiency is limited. The present study examines the effect of various forms of B12 in combination with folate during pregnancy and their effect on gestational outcomes. MAIN METHOD: In the present study, we examined the effect of various vitamin B12 forms in presence of recommended folate (RFol: 400µg/day) and high folate (HFol: 5mg/day) on gestational outcomes in female Wistar rats. FINDINGS: Dams dosed with excessive folate (HFol group) delivered low birth weight (LBW) offsprings (p<0.01) as compared to RFol dams. Plasma homocysteine levels were found to be significantly higher (p<0.05) in dams of HFol group and were reduced after vitamin B12 supplementation. Excessive folate supplementation and homocysteine levels showed inverse association with placental weight (p<0.01) and placental efficiency (p<0.05). B12 supplementation significantly up-regulated placental miR-16 and miR-21, associated with fetal growth which in turn reflected in improved birthweights. Supplementation with vitamin B12 forms, especially combination of active forms of cobalamins: MeCbl+AdCbl significantly increased birth weights (p<0.05) and modulated gestational outcomes in RFol as well as HFol supplemented dams. SIGNIFICANCE: Our results indicated supplementing vitamin B12 along with folate during pregnancy had positive impact on the gestational outcomes. We have shown for the first time that combination of active forms of vitamin B12: MeCbl+AdCbl has better efficacy as compared to Cbl, MeCbl, AdCbl and HCbl alone.

Extraction of rapamycin (sirolimus) from Streptomyces rapamycinicus using ultrasound.

The study was designed to investigate the use of ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) of rapamycin (sirolimus) from bacterial strain of Streptomyces rapamycinicus NRRL 5491. To achieve the maximum extraction yield, various parameters were optimized which include S. rapamycinicus (10 g) of biomass in toluene (50 mL), temperature (20°C), acoustic intensity (35.67 W/cm2), and duty cycle (40%) for 4 min extraction time with probe tip length of 0.5 cm dipped into extraction solvent from the surface. The maximum extraction yield 60.15 ± 0.01 mg/L was attained under the mentioned optimum parameters. The use of ultrasound for the extraction of rapamycin shows about twofold increase in the yield as compared to the conventional solid-liquid extraction (29.7 ± 0.2 mg/L). The study provides the effective UAE technique to produce potential value-added products.

Polyethylene sebacate: genotoxicity, mutagenicity evaluation and application in periodontal drug delivery system.

The objective of the present study is to evaluate Polyethylene sebacate (PES) for its toxicity profile including oral toxicity, genotoxicity and mutagenicity. PES was synthesised, and characterised by gel permeation chromatography, FTIR, (1)H-NMR, differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction. Oral toxicity studies revealed PES to be nontoxic up to 3000 mg/kg body weight with no significant changes in serum biochemistry. The standard battery of genotoxicity tests including micronucleus test, chromosomal aberration and comet assay revealed PES as nongenotoxic. Mutagenicity of PES was evaluated using the Ames microplate format mutagenicity assay sample kit using TA98 and TA100 strains of Salmonella typhimurium, both in presence and absence of Aroclor 1254 induced rat liver S9. Ames assay confirmed PES to be nonmutagenic. Periodontal implants of PES of varying roxithromycin/PES ratios and different diameter were prepared. A decrease in in vitro drug release was seen with increase in diameter of the implants. Release rates, however, increased with increase in PES concentration, and were attributed to decreased crystallinity of roxithromycin, confirmed by the DSC thermographs and XRD spectra. Roxithromycin release from the implants followed Higuchi kinetics and exhibited controlled release. The results suggest PES as a safe polymer for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications.