Vitamin B-12 supplementation improves arterial function in vegetarians with subnormal vitamin B-12 status.

OBJECTIVE: Vegetarians are more vascular-healthy but those with subnormal vitamin B-12 status have impaired arterial endothelial function and increased intima-media thickness. We aimed to study the impact of vitamin B-12 supplementation on these markers, in the vegetarians. DESIGN: Double-blind, placebo controlled, randomised crossover study. SETTING: Community dwelling vegetarians. PARTICIPANTS: Fifty healthy vegetarians (vegetarian diet for at least 6 years) were recruited. INTERVENTION: Vitamin B-12 (500 µg/day) or identical placebo were given for 12 weeks with 10 weeks of placebo-washout before crossover (n=43), and then open label vitamin B-12 for additional 24 weeks (n=41). MEASUREMENT: Flow-mediated dilation of brachial artery (FMD) and intima-media thickness (IMT) of carotid artery were measured by ultrasound. RESULTS: The mean age of the subjects was 45±9 years and 22 (44%) were male. Thirty-five subjects (70%) had serum B-12 levels <150 pmol/l. Vitamin B-12 supplementation significantly increased serum vitamin B-12 levels (p<0.0001) and lowered plasma homocysteine (p<0.05). After vitamin B-12 supplementation but not placebo, significant improvement of brachial FMD (6.3±1.8% to 6.9±1.9%; p<0.0001) and in carotid IMT (0.69±0.09 mm to 0.67±0.09 mm, p<0.05) were found, with further improvement in FMD (to 7.4±1.7%; p<0.0001) and IMT (to 0.65±0.09 mm; p<0.001) after 24 weeks open label vitamin B-12. There were no significant changes in blood pressures or lipid profiles. On multivariate analysis, changes in B-12 (ß=0.25; p=0.02) but not homocysteine were related to changes in FMD, (R=0.32; F value=3.19; p=0.028). CONCLUSIONS: Vitamin B-12 supplementation improved arterial function in vegetarians with subnormal vitamin B-12 levels, proposing a novel strategy for atherosclerosis prevention.

Long-term improvement in homocysteine levels and arterial endothelial function after 1-year folic acid supplementation.

PURPOSE: Hyperhomocysteinemia, a risk factor for atherosclerosis, is associated with endothelial dysfunction that can be improved with short-term folic acid supplementation. The current study aimed to assess whether folic acid supplementation could produce longer-term improvements in homocysteine levels and arterial endothelial function. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Twenty-nine healthy adults with hyperhomocysteinemia were selected from 89 volunteers enrolled in a community-based atherosclerosis screening project. All subjects were given folic acid (10 mg/d) for 1 year. Fasting plasma homocysteine levels were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography. Arterial endothelial function was measured as flow-mediated dilation of the brachial artery using high-resolution B-mode ultrasound. RESULTS: Folic acid supplementation for 1 year was associated with a significant increase in mean (+/-SD) plasma folate levels (24 +/- 5 nmol/L to 40 +/- 5 nmol/L; P < 0.001) and a significant decline in homocysteine levels (9.0 +/- 1.7 micromol/L to 7.9 +/- 2.0 micromol/L; P < 0.001). Flow-mediated dilation also improved significantly, from 7.4% +/- 2.0% to 8.9% +/- 1.5% (P <0.0001), but there was no change in nitroglycerin-induced (endothelium-independent) responses. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that long-term folic acid improves arterial endothelial function and has potential implications for the prevention of atherosclerosis in adults with hyperhomocysteinemia.

A comparison of eight grades of fat as broiler feed ingredients.

Seven samples of feed- or pet food-grade fats (feed- and pet food-grade poultry greases, restaurant grease, white grease, animal/vegetable oil blend, palm oil, yellow grease) and one food-grade edible fat (soybean oil) were evaluated for quality and fatty acid composition. Active oxygen method (AOM) stability at 20 h ranged from 2 to 370 meq/kg; iodine value from 78 to 130 g/100 g; total moisture, insolubles, and unsaponifiables from 0.46 to 3.33%; initial peroxide values from 0.2 to 18.4 meq/kg; and free fatty acids from 0.08 to 21.0%. The ME of the fats ranged from 7.1 to 12.7 kcal/g and was positively correlated with AOM stability and iodine value. When the fats were incorporated into corn-and-soybean-meal-based diets at 3 or 6%, no differences in live performance due to fat source were observed. Increasing fat level from 3 to 6% decreased feed conversion by 3.4 points (1.628 vs. 1.662 g/g). Feeding feed-grade poultry grease resulted in significantly smaller abdominal fat pads compared to the other fat sources. Only moisture, insolubles, unsaponifiables, and free fatty acids were significantly correlated with performance responses. Differences were noticed in abdominal fat pad color (lightness and redness) due to fat source. Differences in MEn were not reflected in differences in bird performance.

[Beneficial effect and mechanism of 764-3 on cognitive deficit induced by brain damage in rats].

Animal model of excitotoxic cognitive deficit induced by kainic acid bilaterally injection into caudate nucleus was successfully established in rats. Based on this model, chronic administration of 764-3 (8 mg/(kg.d), i.p.), an extract from Chinese traditional medicine, markedly improved the learning and memory impairment in the injured caudate nucleus rats. Moreover, attenuation of the neuronal loss in caudate nucleus following excitotoxic damage was observed after 764-3 treatment. In addition, results indicated that the mechanism of the effect of 764-3 may be related to the antagonism against the decline of Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase and Ca(2+)-Mg(2+)-ATPase activity in synaptic membrane resulted from excitotoxicity.

Effect of Phyllanthus amarus on duck hepatitis B virus replication in vivo.

Nine ducks congenitally infected with the duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) were treated either orally (four ducks for 10 weeks) or intraperitoneally (five ducks for 12 weeks) with the Indian traditional herbal remedy Phyllanthus amarus. Compared to placebo-treated control ducks, these treatments did not result in a reduction of circulating viral DNA in the serum or in the level of viral DNA replication in the liver. In two of the five intraperitoneal-treated ducks, a reduction in the levels of duck hepatitis B surface antigenaemia (DHBsAg) was observed. The data strongly suggest that Phyllanthus amarus has no significant inhibitory effect on DHBV DNA replication and only a minor effect on DHBsAg production.