Vitamin medical applications

A number of the transition metals are essential trace elements for living organisms, so that one medical application of transition metal compounds is in the treatment of deficiency diseases. Particular examples are provided by preparations containing iron to treat anaemia and the use of dietary supplements containing cobalt in the form of vitamin B 2, shown as its cyanide derivative in 1.5. The reverse of this type of treatment involves the removal of excess metal ions from the body using com-... 

Easily Soluble ( Instant ) Products The manufacturing of easily soluble, instant granules is one of the oldest and most thoroughly researched applications of engineered products. The term instant is normally used in the food industry and related fields, such as pharmaceuticals and animal feeds, to describe characteristics of drink powders (including coffee, tea milk, milk replacers, soft drinks, vitamins, medicated powders, etc.), soups, sauces and the like. Instant agglomerates are also desirable for pigments and other chemicals that are ultimately dissolved in a diluent. 

The most important by-product of the analytic and synthetic work accomplished so far is knowledge about the stereochemistry and reactivity of natural compounds. There is an enormous potential for the chemists of the twenty-first century lying in the mastery and application of this knowledge in order to produce organized and finally functional materials. Typical contemporary examples include surface monolayers on metals and colloids made of fatty acid and steroid derivatives, the regio- and stereoselective assembly reactions between steroids and carbohydrates, coupled redox chains of metalloporphyrins and vitamins, noncovalent fibers made of amino acids, nucleotides, and saccharides, and the functionalization of proteins by incorporation of reactive molecules. The field of supramolecular or noncovalent natural compound chemistry has been scientifically fruitful for several decades and is presently exploited for the development of useful molecular devices and machines as well as for medical applications. 

In this series of books, the importance of oxidative stress in diseases associated with organ systems of the body is highhghted by exploring the scientific evidence and the medical applications of this knowledge. The series also highhghts the major natnral antioxidant enzymes and antioxidant snbstances such as vitamins E, A, and C, flavonoids, polyphenols, carotenoids, lipoic acid, and other nutrients present in food and beverages. 

Vitamin E has also been used as an AO to provide postradiation sterilization stability for body-contact medical applications (e.g., see Case 3.4 at the end of this chapter). 

An antioxidant based on a-tocopherol (vitamin E) constitutes a meaningful supplement to the product range of antioxidants and is utilized for medical applications (e.g., implant technology) [530]. 

Few scientific events have had such an impact on humanity as the discovery of X-rays by Rontgen in November 1895. At that time, even before the nature of these rays was fully xmderstood, there were immediate industrial and medical applications. The first radiographs appeared as early as 1896. The exact nature of X-radiation was only established in 1912, when Max von Laue discovered the phenomenon of diffraction by crystals. He proved that X-rays are in fact electromagnetic waves and, at the same time, he discovered a rather powerful method for studying the structure of materials. In practice, diffraction is applicable to a vast array of scientific problems and technologies. All structures known to date have been determined by diffraction data from X-rays, neutrons, or electrons. Some notable examples are the double-helix structure of DNA, the structures of hemoglobin, vitamins, proteins, minerals, polymers, metals, and ceramics [1]. 

Immunosensors have been developed commercially mostly for medical purposes but would appear to have considerable potential for food analysis. The Pharmacia company has developed an optical biosensor, which is a fully automated continuous-flow system which exploits the phenomenon of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) to detect and measure biomolecular interactions. The technique has been validated for determination of folic acid and biotin in fortified foods (Indyk, 2000 Bostrom and Lindeberg, 2000), and more recently for vitamin Bi2. This type of technique has great potential for application to a wide range of food additives but its advance will be linked to the availability of specific antibodies or other receptors for the various additives. It should be possible to analyse a whole range of additives by multi-channel continuous flow systems with further miniaturisation. 

H Hasegawa. Vitamin D determination using high-performance liquid chromatography with internal standard-redox mode electrochemical detection and its application to medical nutritional products. J Chromat 605 215-220, 1992. 

The use of antioxidants in human-contact applications (e.g. food-contact, medical and pharmaceutical) present a challenge in terms of their safety and level of migration into the contact media, e.g. food, body fluids. As an antioxidant, vitamin E is a suitable candidate to explore for such areas of application. 

Apart from pantothenic acid, which has been attributed loads of helpful effects in skin care and occurs quite frequently as dexpanthenol in cosmetic and medical formulations, the other vitamins of the B-complex are so far not known for specific positive results on skin, neither topically nor systemically. Nevertheless, some ideas for applications might eventually lead to new treatment options. 

Emulsions have been used for centuries for the oral administration of medical oils and vitamins and as dermatological vehicles. Recently, their application has been extended as drug carriers in the delivery and targeting of ophthalmic drags. An indomethacin emulsion has been reported to increase ocular bioavailability and efficacy compared to commercially available formulation in rabbits. 0.4% indomethacin emulsion showed 2.2 fold increase in the area under the anterior aqueous drag concentration/time curve compared to a 1% indomethacin suspension. The emulsion formulation also reduced ocular surface irritation caused by indomethacin Similar advantages have been shown for a pilocarpine emulsion which produced a prolonged therapeutic effect in comparison with pilocarpine hydrochloride eyedrops in man. It can be administered only twice a day, rather than four times daily for conventional formulation. 

Plant oils are excellent sources of some valuable compounds such as unsaturated fatty acids, phytosterols, squalene, pigments, antioxidants, vitamins, waxes, glycolipids, and lipoproteins. Plant oils could be employed for technological uses as biodiesel, lubricants, surfactants, emulsifiers, biopolymers, and so on. Vegetable oils also can serve as appropriate sources for the production of valuable compounds having applications in food, pharmaceutical, medical, and environmental fields. Attention has been focused on various types of value-added fatty acids (polyunsaturated fatty acids, conjugated fatty... 

All information available at present is presented in the 15 chapters of the special part. From lipides, vitamins, sterols, via medicaments, auxiliary substances of the industry, amino and nucleic acids, to anion- and cation-separation — every subject is dealt with. The possible new applications of the method in medical diagnosis and pharmacology are described in a special chapter. The authors of the respective chapters, after having employed the method for years, report also on the results of their own work some of this information has not been published before and will save time-consuming preliminary tests and studies of literature, for beginners and specialists and will give valuable hints. 

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