Инозитол

Inositol (hexahydroxycyclohexane) is a widely distributed natural constituent of plant and animal tissues. The animal tissues richest in inositol are brain, heart, stomach, kidney, spleen, and liver, where it occurs free or as a component of phospholipids. Among plants, cereals are rich sources of inositol, particularly in the form of polyphosphoric acid esters, called phytic acids. Although there are several possible optically active and inactive isomers, considerations of inositol as a food additive refer specifically to optically inactive cis-1,2,3,5-trans-4,6-cyclohexanehexol, which is preferably designated myo-inositol. Pure inositol is a stable, white, sweet, crystalline compound. The Food Chemicals Codex specifies that it assay not less than 97.0 percent, melt between 224 and 227°, and contain not more than 3 ppm arsenic, 10 ppm lead, 20 ppm heavy metals (as Pb), 60 ppm sulfate, and 50 ppm chloride. Inositol was thought for a time to be a vitamin because experimental animals on a synthetic diet developed clinical signs that were corrected by inositol supplementation. However, no cofactor or catalytic function for inositol has been found; it can be synthesized and occurs in relatively high concentration in animal tissues. These factors argue against its classification as a vitamin. A dietary requirement in man has not been established.

white powder

Myo-Inositol is a growth factor for animals and microorganisms. It is the most abundant form of polyols that serves as a structural element of secondary messengers in eukaryotic cells. It is used as an adulterant in many illegal drugs like cocaine and methamphetamine. Further, it is used as a stand-in for cocaine on television and film.

ChEBI: Inositol is an inositol having myo-configuration. It is a natural sugar found in cell membrane phospholipids, plasma lipoproteins, and (as the phosphate form) in the nucleus with potential chemopreventive properties. As one of a number of intracellular phosphate compounds, inositol is involved in cell signaling and may stimulate tumor cell differentiation.

Myoinositol is a stereoisomeric form of inositol, and is very often found in many plants and in tissues of animals and plants. It acts as a second messenger, thereby is very important for the signal pathways of cells. It generally finds application in being used as a natural insulin sensitizer in PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) patients. Myoinositol acts in a PCOS pathway by improving insulin sensitivity, thereby sequentially increasing intracellular glucose uptake.

Recrystallise myo-inositol from aqueous 50% ethanol or H2O forming a dihydrate, or anhydrous crystals from AcOH. The dihydrate is efflorescent and becomes anhydrous when heated at 100o . The anhydrous crystals are not hygroscopic. Its solubility in H2O at 25o is 14%, at 60o it is 28%; it is slightly soluble in EtOH but insoluble in Et2O. [Ballou & Anderson J Am Chem Soc 7 5 748 1953, Anderson & Wallis J Am Chem Soc 70 2931 1948, Beilstein 6 II 1157, 6 IV 7919.]

Some researches have found that inositol enhanced cisplatin-induced histopathological improvements in the uterus and ovaries, raising progesterone and estradiol serum levels. Hence,  Inositol shield against cisplatin-related infertility by reducing oxidative stress and apoptosis in the uterus and ovaries. Inositol stereoisomers are naturally occurring molecules that readily cross the blood-brain barrier . It may represent a viable treatment for AD through the complexation of Abeta and attenuation of Abeta neurotoxic effects[1-2].