Evaluation of vinyl laurate in a battery of in vitro and in vivo tests for genotoxicity

Amphiphilic dextran-vinyl laurate-based nanoparticles: formation, characterization, encapsulation, and cytotoxicity on human intestinal cell line

Dextran has been the model material for the therapeutic applications owing to its biodegradable and biocompatible properties, and the ability to be functionalized in variety of ways. In this study, the amphiphilic dextran was successfully synthesized through lipase-catalyzed transesterification between dextran and vinyl laurate. In aqueous solution, the produced dextran ester could self-assemble into spherical nanoparticles ("Dex-L NPs") with approximately 200-nm diameter, and could incorporate porcine placenta hydrolysate with 60% encapsulation efficiency. Furthermore, Dex-L NPs exhibited low cytotoxic effects on human intestinal cell line and, thus, were potentially safe for oral administration. Taken together, the findings illustrate the potential of the newly developed nanoparticles to serve as an efficient and safe drug delivery system.

13-week oral toxicity study of vinyl laurate in rats

Vinyl laurate (VL) is used as a monomer in the production of polyvinyl acetate vinyl laurate copolymer, a component of chewing gum base. The safety of VL was examined in a 13-week oral toxicity study in Wistar rats. VL was administered in corn coil by daily gavage (5 ml/kg bw/d) to four main groups (10 rats/sex) at doses of 0 (vehicle only), 50, 250 and 1000 mg/kg bw/d, respectively. The control and high-dose group comprised an additional 5 rats/sex which were kept untreated for a further 4 weeks until sacrifice (recovery groups). In addition to standard parameters, male and female fertility parameters were determined as well. There were no mortalities and treatment-related clinical signs. Neurobehavioral observations and motor activity assessment, ophthalmoscopic examinations, body weights, feed and water intakes, blood cell counts, coagulation time, standard clinical chemical parameters and urinalyses, absolute and relative organ weights at the end of the treatment as well as macroscopic examination at necropsy and microscopic examination of standard organs and tissues did not show any treatment-related changes. Female and male fertility parameters (estrus cyclicity, testicular and epididymal sperm counts, sperm motility and morphology) were not affected by the treatment. Accordingly, the no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) for VL was determined to be 1000 mg/kg bw/d, i.e. the highest dose level tested.