[The effect of different high riboflavin supplements during pregnancy and lactation on performance and erythrocyte glutathione reductase activity of rats]

Light therapy and supplementary Riboflavin in the SOD1 transgenic mouse model of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FALS)

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FALS) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive loss of motor neurons and death. Mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress play an important role in motor neuron loss in ALS. Light therapy (LT) has biomodulatory effects on mitochondria. Riboflavin improves energy efficiency in mitochondria and reduces oxidative injury. The purpose of this study was to examine the synergistic effect of LT and riboflavin on the survival of motor neurons in a mouse model of FALS.

STUDY DESIGN/MATERIALS AND METHODS

G93A SOD1 transgenic mice were divided into four groups: Control, Riboflavin, Light, and Riboflavin+Light (combination). Mice were treated from 51 days of age until death. A single set of LT parameters was used: 810 nm diode laser, 140-mW output power, 1.4 cm(2) spot area, 120 seconds treatment duration, and 12 J/cm(2) energy density. Behavioral tests and weight monitoring were done weekly. At end stage of the disease, mice were euthanized, survival data was collected and immunohistochemistry and motor neuron counts were performed.

RESULTS

There was no difference in survival between groups. Motor function was not significantly improved with the exception of the rotarod test which showed significant improvement in the Light group in the early stage of the disease. Immunohistochemical expression of the astrocyte marker, glial fibrilary acidic protein, was significantly reduced in the cervical and lumbar enlargements of the spinal cord as a result of LT. There was no difference in the number of motor neurons in the anterior horn of the lumbar enlargement between groups.

CONCLUSIONS

The lack of significant improvement in survival and motor performance indicates study interventions were ineffective in altering disease progression in the G93A SOD1 mice. Our findings have potential implications for the conceptual use of light to treat other neurodegenerative diseases that have been linked to mitochondrial dysfunction.

[Effect of various riboflavin supplementations during lactation on riboflavin levels in milk, liver and carcass in lactating rats]

The present study investigated the effect of various dietary riboflavin supplementations (0 to 4000 mg/kg) during lactation on riboflavin concentrations of liver, carcass (bled body without intestine and liver), and milk in the rat. The experiment was conducted until the 14th day of lactation; milk samples were drawn on the 7th and 13th day of lactation. Riboflavin concentrations of milk raised continuously with increasing riboflavin supplementation; in the range between 0 and 10 mg/kg riboflavin supplementation, there was a linear relationship, and in the range between 12 and 4000 mg/kg there was a logarithmic relationship between riboflavin supplementation and riboflavin concentration in the milk. Maximum riboflavin concentration of milk obtained by supplementation with 4000 mg/kg was twelve-fold higher than without riboflavin supplementation. For riboflavin supplementation up to 12 mg/kg, riboflavin concentrations in milk on the 7th day of lactation and that on the 13th day of lactation were not different. In contrast, in rats fed diets with higher riboflavin supplementation, riboflavin concentrations were higher by 25% in average in milk on the 13th day of lactation than in milk on the 7th day of lactation. Contrary to the milk, riboflavin concentrations in liver and carcass exhibited a saturation, which was achieved at a supplementation of 6 mg/kg (liver) and 10 mg/kg (carcass), respectively. Maximum riboflavin concentrations obtained at a supplementation of 4000 mg/ kg were 1.9- and 2.3-fold higher for liver and carcass, respectively, than concentrations obtained without riboflavin supplementation. The dose-response relationship using riboflavin concentrations of liver and carcass as response factors indicates a riboflavin requirement of 8 to 9 mg/kg for lactating rats fed a semisynthetic diet with 17.4 MJ ME/kg dry matter and 20.8% protein in dry matter.