High-performance liquid chromatography method for the simultaneous determination of thiamine hydrochloride, pyridoxine hydrochloride and cyanocobalamin in pharmaceutical formulations using coulometric electrochemical and ultraviolet detection

Optimization of Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) Sorption onto Mesoporous Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles

The techniques used to detect and quantify cyanocobalamin (vitamin B12) vary considerably in terms of detection sensitivity, from the most sensitive, based on radioisotopes and mass spectrometry (MS) with limits of detection (LOD) in fg mL-1, to fluorescence (FL) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensors with LOD values in the range of a few µg mL-1. For accurate quantification of an analyte present at trace levels in complex biological matrices, a selective separation and enrichment step is required to overcome matrix interferences and ensure sufficient detection sensitivity. In this study, iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles (IONPs) were used for the extraction and initial preconcentration of cyanocobalamin (vitamin B12). In the dependence of the magnetization on the H-field (hysteresis loop), no coercivity and remanence values were found at 300 K, indicating the superparamagnetic properties of the tested IONPs. Perfluorinated acids were used as amphiphilic agents to allow the sorption of cyanocobalamin onto the IONPs. FT-IR/ATR spectroscopy was used to confirm the sorption of cyanocobalamin on the IONPs. The influence of the addition of a homologous series of perfluorinated acids such as trifluoroacetic acid (TFAA), heptafluorobutyric acid (HFBA), and trichloroacetic acid (TCAA) to the extraction mixture was tested considering their type, mass, and time required for effective sorption. The adsorption kinetics and isotherm, described by the Freundlich and Langmuir equations, were analyzed. The maximum adsorption capacity (qm) exceeded 6 mg g-1 and was 8.9 mg g-1 and 7.7 mg g-1 for HFBA and TCAA, respectively, as the most efficient additives. After the desorption process using aqueous KH2PO4 solution, the sample was finally analyzed spectrophotometrically and chromatographically. The IONP-based method was successfully applied for the isolation of cyanocobalamin from human urine samples. The results showed that the developed approach is simple, cheap, accurate, and efficient for the determination of traces of cyanocobalamin in biological matrices.

A Simple UV Spectrophotometric Method Based on Continuous Wavelet Transform and Multivariate Calibration Model for the Concurrent Analysis of Three Water-Soluble Vitamins in Fertility Supplements

BACKGROUND

Owing to the presence of overlapping spectra in pharmaceutical components, classical spectrophotometry is hard for concurrent determination. The advance of chemometrics along with UV-Vis spectrophotometry has contributed to solving this problem.

OBJECTIVE

In this study, a fast, easy, precise, accurate, low-cost, and eco-friendly spectrophotometric technique was introduced and validated for the simultaneous analysis of vitamin B6, vitamin B12, and vitamin C in fertility supplements for men and women using continuous wavelet transform (CWT) and partial least squares (PLS) techniques without using time-consuming extraction process and organic solvents.

METHOD

In the CWT method, the zero-crossing technique was applied to obtain the optimum points for plotting calibration curves for each component. The validation of both methods was evaluated by analyzing several mixtures with different concentrations. The efficiency of the proposed methods was also surveyed on commercial capsules.

RESULTS

Wavelet families, including Symlet (sym2) at 230, Biorthogonal (bior1.3) at 378 nm, and Daubechies (db2) at 261, were considered for vitamins B6, B12, and C, respectively. The linear range was found to be 8-20, 8-20, and 10-25 μg/mL with the coefficient of determination (R2) equal to 0.9982, 0.9978, and 0.9701 for B6, B12, and C, respectively. Low limit of detection (LOD) (<0.09 μg/mL) and limit of quantification (LOQ) <0.9 μg/mL were achieved. The mean recovery values in synthetic mixtures were from 98.38 to 98.89% and from 99.83 to 99.99%, where root-mean-square error (RMSE) of not more than 0.4 and 0.05 using the CWT and PLS methods, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The obtained results from the commercial capsules, applying the suggested techniques, were compared to those yielded by the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method using the analysis of variance (ANOVA) test. According to the results, there are no significant differences, and they were in good agreement. According to all the mentioned cases, the proposed approaches can replace the time-consuming and costly HPLC method in quality control laboratories.

HIGHLIGHTS

Green spectrophotometry coupling chemometrics methods were proposed. Simultaneous determination of three water-soluble vitamins in fertility supplements was done using these approaches. Rapidity, simplicity, low cost, and accuracy are the benefits of the proposed methods. A HPLC technique was used as a reference method to compare with the chemometrics methods.

Vitamin B12 in Foods, Food Supplements, and Medicines-A Review of Its Role and Properties with a Focus on Its Stability

Vitamin B₁₂, also known as the anti-pernicious anemia factor, is an essential micronutrient totally dependent on dietary sources that is commonly integrated with food supplements. Four vitamin B₁₂ forms-cyanocobalamin, hydroxocobalamin, 5'-deoxyadenosylcobalamin, and methylcobalamin-are currently used for supplementation and, here, we provide an overview of their biochemical role, bioavailability, and efficacy in different dosage forms. Since the effective quantity of vitamin B₁₂ depends on the stability of the different forms, we further provide a review of their main reactivity and stability under exposure to various environmental factors (e.g., temperature, pH, light) and the presence of some typical interacting compounds (oxidants, reductants, and other water-soluble vitamins). Further, we explore how the manufacturing process and storage affect B₁₂ stability in foods, food supplements, and medicines and provide a summary of the data published to date on the content-related quality of vitamin B₁₂ products on the market. We also provide an overview of the approaches toward their stabilization, including minimization of the destabilizing factors, addition of proper stabilizers, or application of some (innovative) technological processes that could be implemented and contribute to the production of high-quality vitamin B₁₂ products.

UV-VIS spectrophotometric-assisted chemometric calibration models for simultaneous determination of thiamine and pyridoxine vitamins in powdered infant formula

Thiamine and pyridoxine, which are hydrophilic B vitamins, are compounds that play an important role in many biochemical events for the health of infants and adults. Recently, because of the complexity of food and pharmaceutical composition, chemometric models are preferred to obtain relevant information from multivariate measured data. The aim of this study was to determine the simultaneous quantitative analysis of thiamine and pyridoxine in powdered infant formula and pharmaceutical formulations by the UV-visible spectrophotometric method coupled with chemometric calibration models (partial least squares (PLS) and principal component regression (PCR)). These vitamins were extracted by addition of trichloroacetic acid (precipitation of proteins) after samples of powdered infant formula was dissolved in Milli-Q water. Factorial design was used to prepare the calibration (25 samples) and validation (8 samples) sets containing mixture of thiamine and pyridoxine within their linear range (2.5-25 μg/mL). Spectra of obtained mixtures and samples were recorded between wavelengths of 200-360 nm with the intervals Δλ=1 nm. In regression models created by using PLS and PCR algorithm, the results had acceptable recovery 98.14% for both compounds. These chemometric models predict the quantification of both, thiamine and pyridoxine in powdered infant formula samples via interpreting the UV-Vis spectrum. The average thiamine and pyridoxine contents of powdered infant formula samples were found to be 5.02±0.065 μg/g and 4.32±0.086 μg/g for PLS model and 4.98±0.078 μg/g and 4.03±0.091 μg/g for PCR model, respectively.

Comparative studies on vitamin B1 deficiency inwholeblood of chronically haemodialysed patients: chromatographic, fluorimetricandPCAstudy

The levels of thiamine diphosphate (ThDP), the most active biologically form of vitamin B₁, were assessed in whole blood oflong-term haemodialysed patients (n = 50), by applying chromatographic methods based on RP-HPLC technique with isocratic elution and fluorescence detection. The target analyte, thiochrome diphosphate (ThODP), was obtained by pre-column derivatization of vitamin B₁ contained in blood samples, applying deproteination with trichloroacetic acid, following by oxidation with alkaline solution of potassium ferricyanide(III) and stabilization with DTT before assays. A simple and sensitive assay was developed, and the results were referenced to the commercially available test. Steady-state and time-resolved studies on emissive properties of ThODP enabled optimization of the proposed assay. The F-Snedecor test shown no statistically significant differences between both approaches. Assessed parameters of the proposed assay, such as linearity, precision, sensitivity, and recovery, were satisfactory if compared to the reference one. The LOQ value for ThDP in whole blood of studied group of patients was of 0.5 ng/mL and the recovery of88%. The results disclosed high individual variabilities in the interdialytic deficiencies of ThDP among the patients - ranged from afew percent to values close to 100%. A comprehensive clinical data, characterizing patients under study, were processed together, and analysed by employing achemometric discriminative tool, the Principal Components Analysis,to find interdependences among clinical data characterizing patients. The three Principal Components were disclosed, that in sum explained almost 50% of the observed variability of the clinical data set. Among the clinical parameters involved in PCs were dialyzer membrane and type, duration as well as levels of creatinine, haemoglobin, and red blood cells in patients' whole blood.

Determination of selected water-soluble vitamins (thiamine, riboflavin, nicotinamide and pyridoxine) from a food matrix using hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectroscopy

Water-soluble vitamins are essential dietary components with a multitude of important functions that require quantification from food sources to characterise the nutritional status of food. In this study, we have developed a hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) based method coupled to single-quadrupole mass spectrometry (MS) for the analysis of selected water-soluble vitamins. Due to their involvement in energy release from macronutrients, the quantification of thiamine (B₁), riboflavin (B₂), nicotinamide (B₃) and pyridoxine (B₆) offers significant value in food analysis. A commercially available vegetable soup was selected as the food matrix for this study and utilised to develop an efficient extraction procedure for the vitamins of interest. Vitamins were extracted using meta-phosphoric acid coupled with a reducing agent, DL-dithiothreitol (DTT) to produce the parent compound. The extracted vitamins were then analysed using an LC-MS system with electrospray - atmospheric pressure ionization (ES-API) source, operated in positive single ion monitoring (SIM) mode. The MS provided good linearity within the investigated range from 5 to 400 ng/mL with coefficient of determination (r²) ranging from 0.98 to 0.99. Retention times (0.65-9.04 min) were reproducible and no coelution between vitamins was observed. Limit of detection (LOD) varied from 2.4 to 9.0 ng/mL and limit of quantification (LOQ) was from 8 to 30 ng/mL, comparable to previously published studies. The extraction method provided good intra-day (%CV 1.56-6.56) and inter-day precision (%CV 8.07-10.97). Standard injections were used as part of quality control measures and provided excellent reproducibility (%CV 0.9-3.4). The overall runtime of this method was 19 min, including column reconditioning. Using this method, the quantity of thiamine (67 ± 7 ng/g), riboflavin (423 ± 39 ng/g), nicotinamide (856 ± 77 ng/g) and pyridoxine (133 ± 11 ng/g) was determined from a complex food matrix. In conclusion, we have developed a rapid and reliable, HILIC-single quad MS method utilising SIM for the low-level quantification of four B vitamins in a vegetable soup matrix in under 20 min. This method has shown excellent linearity, intra- and inter-day reproducibility and is directly applicable to other plant-based food matrices.

A comprehensive approach for the simultaneous analysis of all main water-soluble vitamins in multivitamin preparations by a stability-indicating HPLC-DAD method

A stability-indicating HPLC-DAD method for simultaneous determination of all nine main water-soluble vitamins, in addition to two commonly used vitamers, was developed and fully validated in analytical ranges, adjusted to their recommended dietary allowance values. An XSelect CSH C18 column with gradient elution using phosphate buffer and methanol was used for their optimal separation. The results from forced degradation studies along with peak purity tests and response ratios at dual wavelengths for the individual vitamins in all tested samples confirmed the method's stability-indicative nature. The complete developed methodology, including a single sample preparation for the vitamins simultaneous analysis, was applied to their assay in 13 commercial multivitamin preparations, revealing mostly higher amounts than the label claims. The developed method is applicable for stability testing, multivitamin products shelf-life determination as well as routine assay analysis of all water-soluble vitamins in their most common forms, including the analytically most demanding flavin mononucleotide.

Stability-indicating HPLC-PDA assay for simultaneous determination of paracetamol, thiamine and pyridoxal phosphate in tablet formulations

With the increased number of multi-drug formulations, there is a need to develop new methods for simultaneous determinations of drugs. A precise, accurate and reliable liquid chromatographic method was developed for simultaneous determination of paracetamol, thiamine, and pyridoxal phosphate in pharmaceutical formulations. Separation of analytes was carried out with an Agilent Poroshell C18 column. A mixture of ammonium phosphate buffer (pH = 3.0), acetonitrile and methanol in the ratio of 86:7:7 (V/V/V) was used as the mobile phase pumped at a flow rate of 1.8 mL min-1. Detection of all three components, impurities and degradation products was performed at the selected wavelength of 270 nm. The developed method was validated in terms of linearity, specificity, precision, accuracy, LOD and LOQ as per ICH guidelines. Linearity of the developed method was found in the range 17.5-30 µg mL-1 for thiamine, 35-60 µg mL-1 for pyridoxal phosphate and 87.5-150 µg mL-1 for paracetamol. The coefficient of determination was ≥ 0.9981 for all three analytes. The proposed HPLC method was found to be simple and reliable for the routine simultaneous analysis of paracetamol, thiamine and pyridoxal phosphate in tablet formulations. Complete separation of analytes in the presence of degradation products indicated selectivity of the method.

Highly sensitive interference-free electrochemical determination of pyridoxine at graphene modified electrode: Importance in Parkinson and Asthma treatments

To reduce the side effects in the medication of Parkinson and Asthma, pyridoxine (PY) is administered along with l-3,4-dihydroxyphenyl alanine (l-dopa) and theophylline (TP), respectively. However, excessive dosage of PY leads to nervous disorder. Thus, a sensitive and selective electrochemical method was developed for the determination of PY in the presence of major interferences including TP, l-dopa, ascorbic acid (AA) and riboflavin (RB) using electrochemically reduced graphene oxide (ERGO) film modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) in this paper. The ERGO fabrication process involves the nucleophilic substitution of graphene oxide at basic pH on amine terminal of 1,6-hexadiamine which was pre-assembled on GCE followed by electrochemical reduction. The electrocatalytic activity of the ERGO modified electrode was examined towards the oxidation of PY. It greatly enhanced the oxidation current of PY in contrast to bare and GO modified GCEs due to facile electron transfer besides π-π interaction between ERGO film and PY. Since TP and l-dopa drugs antagonize the drug action of PY, ERGO modified GCE was also used for the simultaneous determination of PY and l-dopa and PY and TP. Further, the selective determination of PY in the presence of other water soluble vitamins such as ascorbic acid and riboflavin was also demonstrated. Using amperometry, detection of 100nM PY was achieved and the detection limit was found to be 5.6×10(-8)M (S/N=3). The practical application of the present method was demonstrated by determining the concentration of PY in human blood serum and commercial drugs.

Effects of formulation variables and storage conditions on light protected vitamin B12 mixed parenteral formulations

PURPOSE

In this research the effect of vitamin B1 and B6 on cyanocobalamin stability in commercial light protected parenteral formulations and upon adding stabilizing agents will be investigated and best formulation composition and proper storage condition will be introduced.

METHODS

In this research some additives such as co solvents and tonicity adjusters, surfactants, antioxidants and chelating agents as well as buffer solutions, were used to improve the stability of the parenteral mixed formulations of B12 in the presence of other B vitamins (B1 and B6). Screening tests and accelerated stability tests were performed according to ICH guidelines Q1A (R2).

RESULTS

Shelf life evaluation revealed the best formulation and the proper storage condition. The results indicated the first kinetic models for all tested formulations and the optimum pH value was determined to be 5.8. There was no evidence of B12 loss when mixed with B1 and B6 in a medical syringe at room temperature for maximum of 8 hours.

CONCLUSION

It is necessary to formulate vitamin B12 mixed parenteral solutions using proper phosphate buffers (pH=5.8) and to indicate "Store in refrigerator" on the mixed parenteral formulations of vitamin B12 with other B vitamins, which has not been expressed on the label of tested Brand formulations at the time of this study.

Evaluation of flow-injection tandem mass spectrometry for rapid and high-throughput quantitative determination of B vitamins in nutritional supplements

The use of flow-injection electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry for rapid and high-throughput mass spectral analysis of selected B vitamins, viz., B1, B2, B3, B5, and B6, in nutritional formulations was demonstrated. A simple and rapid (~5 min) in-tube sample preparation was performed. Automated flow injection introduced 1 μL of the extracts directly into the mass spectrometer ion source without chromatographic separation. Sample-to-sample analysis time was 60 s. Quantitative capabilities of the flow-injection analysis were tested using the method of standard additions and SRM 3280. The quantity determined for each B vitamin in SRM 3280 was within the statistical range provided for the respective certified values. This approach was also applied to two different commercial vitamin supplement tablets and proved to be successful in the quantification of the selected B vitamins, as evidenced by an agreement with the label values and the results obtained using isotope dilution liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry.

Magnetic nanoparticle-based solid-phase extraction of vitamin B12 from pharmaceutical formulations

In the present study, a novel quantitative method, namely magnetic nanoparticle-based solid-phase extraction (MSPE), was applied to extract vitamin B(12) from pharmaceutical formulations. The technique involves the use of Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles modified by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as an efficient adsorbent for solid-phase extraction of vitamin B(12). Collection of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) from aqueous solution was simply achieved by applying external magnetic field. The analyte was desorbed from MNPs using alkali 1-propanol. The extracted analyte was analyzed by using flow injection inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry. Factors affecting the extraction efficiency were investigated and optimized. Under the optimum conditions, enhancement factor of 184, linear dynamic range of 2.5-500 μg L(-1) with correlation of determination (R(2) > 0.999), and limit of detection of 1.0 μg L(-1) were obtained for vitamin B(12). The percent relative standard deviation based on five-replicate determination was less than 6.2%. The method was successfully applied for extraction and determination of vitamin B(12) in different types of pharmaceutical samples such as multivitamin tablet, effervescent tablet, and injection sample. The results showed that the proposed method based on SDS-Fe(3)O(4) MSPE was a simple, accurate, and highly efficient approach for analysis of vitamin B(12).

Dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction coupled to liquid chromatography for thiamine determination in foods

A miniaturized dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) procedure coupled to liquid chromatography (LC) with fluorimetric detection was evaluated for the preconcentration and determination of thiamine (vitamin B(1)). Derivatization was carried out by chemical oxidation of thiamine with 5 × 10(-5) M ferricyanide at pH 13 to form fluorescent thiochrome. For DLLME, 0.5 mL of acetonitrile (dispersing solvent) containing 90 μL of tetrachloroethane (extraction solvent) was rapidly injected into 10 mL of sample solution containing the derivatized thiochrome and 24% (w/v) sodium chloride, thereby forming a cloudy solution. Phase separation was carried out by centrifugation, and a volume of 20 μL of the sedimented phase was submitted to LC. The mobile phase was a mixture of a 90% (v/v) 10 mM KH(2)PO(4) (pH 7) solution and 10% (v/v) acetonitrile at 1 mL min(-1). An amide-based stationary phase involving a ligand with amide groups and the endcapping of trimethylsilyl was used. Specificity, linearity, precision, recovery, and sensitivity were satisfactory. Calibration graph was carried out by the standard additions method and was linear between 1 and 10 ng mL(-1). The detection limit was 0.09 ng mL(-1). The selectivity of the method was judged from the absence of interfering peaks at the thiamine elution time for blank chromatograms of unspiked samples. A relative standard deviation of 3.2% was obtained for a standard solution containing thiamine at 5 ng mL(-1). The esters thiamine monophosphate and thiamine pyrophosphate can also be determined by submitting the sample to successive acid and enzymatic treatments. The method was applied to the determination of thiamine in different foods such as beer, brewer's yeast, honey, and baby foods including infant formulas, fermented milk, cereals, and purees. For the analysis of solid samples, a previous extraction step was applied based on an acid hydrolysis with trichloroacetic acid. The reliability of the procedure was checked by analyzing a certified reference material, pig's liver (CRM 487). The value obtained was 8.76 ± 0.2 μg g(-1) thiamine, which is in excellent agreement with the certified value, 8.6 ± 1.1 μg g(-1).

Certification of vitamins and carotenoids in SRM 3280 multivitamin/multielement tablets

A new multivitamin/multielement dietary supplement Standard Reference Material (SRM) has been issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), with certified and reference concentration values for 13 vitamins, 24 elements, and 2 carotenoids. The constituents have been measured by multiple analytical methods with data contributed by NIST and by collaborating laboratories. This effort included the first use of isotope dilution mass spectrometry for value assignment of both fat-soluble vitamins (FSVs) and water-soluble vitamins (WSVs). Excellent agreement was obtained among the methods, with relative expanded uncertainties for the certified concentration values typically ranging from <2% to 15% for vitamins.

Application of the high-performance liquid chromatography method with coulometric detection for determination of vitamin B(6) in human plasma and serum

A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography method (HPLC) with coulometric electrochemical detection has been developed and validated for the simultaneous analysis of pyridoxamine-5'-phosphate (PMP), pyridoxamine (PM), pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP), pyridoxal (PL), pyridoxine (PN) and 4-pyridoxic acid (4-PA) in human plasma and serum. The isocratic separation was achieved on C(18) column (250mmx4.6mm, I.D., 5microm) with a mobile phase consisted of 35mM sodium phosphate containing 2.5mM heptanesulfonic acid, adjusted to pH 3.2 with 85% orthophosphoric acid and 12% methanol (v/v). Within-run and between-run precisions expressed by the relative standard deviations were less than 2.7% and 7.7% for all the analysed vitamins and 4-PA, respectively. The limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) were: 0.8 and 2.6nM, 1.1 and 3.8nM, 1.5 and 4.5nM, 1.3 and 4.2nM, 1.1 and 3.7nM, 2.1 and 6.3nM for PMP, PM, PLP, PL, PN and 4-PA, respectively. The recoveries ranged from 90.4% to 98.4%. Stability of vitamins was checked under a variety of storage conditions. The developed application demonstrated acceptable sensitivity, precision, accuracy, stability, and linearity over the physiological concentration range. The major advantage of the proposed method is its great simplicity.

Simultaneous determination of chondroitin sulfate sodium, allantoin and pyridoxine hydrochloride in pharmaceutical eye drops by an ion-pair high-performance liquid chromatography

An ion-pair high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method has been developed for the simultaneous determination of chondroitin sulfate sodium (CSS), allantoin and pyridoxine hydrochloride (VB(6)) in a commercial eye drops dosage form. An Alltima C(18) column (250 mm x 4.6 mm i.d., 5 microm) was used for the separation at room temperature, with 25 mM ammonium dihydrogen phosphate (containing 0.01% heptanesulfonic acid sodium salt) and acetonitrile (95:5, v/v) as the mobile phase at the flow rate of 0.5 mL min(-1). The detection wavelength for CSS, allantoin and VB(6) was 195 nm, 215 nm and 291 nm, respectively. The method showed good linearity for CSS, allantoin and VB(6), with correlation coefficients greater than 0.9996, in the range of 203.96-815.84 mg L(-1), 371.16-1488.64 mg L(-1), and 23.32-93.28 mg L(-1), respectively. The instrumental and method precisions were adequate with all relative standard deviations lower than 2.0%. The accuracy of this method, measured by the recovery of three compounds from spiked placebo solutions, was from 99.01% to 101.92%. The three components, CSS, allantoin and VB(6) were well separated from other ingredients and degradation products. This method is fast, simple, and can be used for direct and simultaneous determination of CSS, allantoin and VB(6) in the pharmaceutical preparation.

Prevention of incipient diabetic cardiomyopathy by high-dose thiamine

Diabetic cardiomyopathy can progress toward overt heart failure with increased mortality. The hexosamine biosynthesis pathway has been implicated in signaling for fibrosis by the kidney. Thiamine (vitamin B(1)) is an indispensable coenzyme and required at intracellular glucose metabolism. In this study, we assessed if decrease of flux through the hexosamine biosynthesis pathway induced by high-dose thiamine therapy counteracts diabetes-induced cardiac fibrosis. The diabetes model used was the streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat. Normal control and diabetic rats were studied for 2 weeks with and without thiamine, and followings were analyzed; plasma biochemicals (total cholesterol and triglycerides), morphological changes, mRNA abundance relevant to cardiac failure (brain natriuretic peptide) and fibrosis (transforming growth factor-beta1, thrombospondine, fibronectin, plasminogen activator-I and connective tissue growth factor) as well as and matrix metalloproteinase activity were investigated. Thiamine repletion prevented diabetes-induced cardiac fibrosis without changes in plasma glucose concentration. This was achieved by prevention of thiamine depletion, increased pro-fibrotic mRNA abundance and decreased metalloproteinase activity in the heart of diabetic rats. O-glycosylated protein was significantly higher in the left ventricular of diabetic rats compared to control rats, which was decreased by thiamine administration. Thiamine repletion prevented diabetes-induced cardiac fibrosis in experimental diabetes, probably by suppression of hexosamine biosynthesis pathway.

Determination of cobalamin in nutritive supplements and chlorella foods by capillary electrophoresis-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

A capillary electrophoresis-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric (CE-ICP-MS) method for the determination of cobalamin is described. Samples of cobalt-containing compounds were subjected to electrophoretic separation before injection into the microconcentric nebulizer (CEI-100) of ICP-MS. The Co-containing compounds studied include cyanocobalamin (CN-Cbl, vitamin B12), hydroxocobalamin (OH-Cbl), and Co(II). The species studied were well separated using a 70 cm lengthx75 microm i.d. fused silica capillary with the applied voltage set at +20 kV. A 25 mM Tris buffer (pH 9.0) containing 15 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was used as the electrophoretic buffer. The CE-ICP-MS detection limits were 0.3, 0.2, and 1.7 ng of Co mL(-1) for CN-Cbl, OH-Cbl, and Co(II), respectively. The concentrations of cobalamin compounds were determined in selected nutritive supplements and chlorella samples. A microwave-assisted extraction method was used for the extraction of these compounds. Over 92% of the total cobalt species was extracted using a 5% v/v HNO3 solution in a focused microwave field within a period of 10 min; spike recovery was in the range of 94-105% for various species. The major cobalt species in nutritive supplements and chlorella samples was cyanocobalamin.

New ionophores for vitamin B1 and vitamin B6 potentiometric sensors for multivitaminic control

The construction, evaluation and analytical application of potentiometric sensors sensitive to vitamin B1 and vitamin B6 are reported. The solid contact electrodes were produced using beta-cyclodextrins as ionophores in a carboxylated poly(vinyl chloride) support matrix. Near Nernstian slopes (mV/decade) of 51.7+/-0.8, 60.6+/-0.6 and 61.1+/-1.4, within the intervals (M) of 1.0 x 10(-4) to 1.0 x 10(-1), 5.8 x 10(-5) to 1.0 x 10(-1) and 4.3 x 10(-5) to 1.0 x 10(-1) were obtained, for thiamine and pyridoxine I and II prepared membranes, respectively. A pH operational range of 6.5-8.5 for thiamine and 2-4.5 for pyridoxine electrodes was found. Assessment of selectivity coefficients toward a large number of inorganic cations and organic cations usually present in multivitamin formulations revealed good performance. Analysis of vitamins B1 and B6 in complex multivitamin drugs was achieved with recoveries within the intervals of 95.1-99.6% for thiamine and 95.1-102% for pyridoxine. Furthermore, the results enabled by the proposed procedure revealed good agreement with those provided by HPLC.

Analytical procedures for water-soluble vitamins in foods and dietary supplements: a review

Water-soluble vitamins include the B-group vitamins and vitamin C. In order to correctly monitor water-soluble vitamin content in fortified foods for compliance monitoring as well as to establish accurate data banks, an accurate and precise analytical method is a prerequisite. For many years microbiological assays have been used for analysis of B vitamins. However they are no longer considered to be the gold standard in vitamins analysis as many studies have shown up their deficiencies. This review describes the current status of analytical methods, including microbiological assays and spectrophotometric, biosensor and chromatographic techniques. In particular it describes the current status of the official methods and highlights some new developments in chromatographic procedures and detection methods. An overview is made of multivitamin extractions and analyses for foods and supplements.