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Improvement in vitamin B12 status of Wistar rats by supplementing the diet with Chlorella vulgaris biomass

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Abstract

The sources of bioavailable vitamin B12 are limited, and most of them are animal-derived. Chlorella vulgaris, a freshwater microalga, is known for immune system boosting, nutraceutical properties and presence of a natural form of vitamin B12. The present study focused on the in vivo evaluation of the Chlorella biomass as a source of bioavailable vitamin B12 to alleviate the vitamin B12 deficiency status of Wistar rats. Experimental animals were evaluated for the vitamin B12 deficiency-related circulatory marker (serum vitamin B12) and functional markers (plasma homocysteine and urinary methylmalonic acid), haematological and histological changes. The results showed that an increase of 2.4-fold in urinary methylmalonic acid (13.01 ± 0.89 µmoles moles of creatinine−1), 2.6-fold in plasma homocysteine (17.18 ± 3.57 µmole L−1), and 48% decrease in serum vitamin B12 levels (252.69 ± 1.46 pg mL−1) in vitamin B12 deficient group compared to control animals. The Chlorella biomass supplementation in the diet led to the restoration of the functional and circulatory markers, hematological parameters, and vitamin B12 content of kidney and liver to control levels. The Chlorella biomass supplementation increased the erythrocyte precursors and MAST cells in the bone marrow and also normalized the histological features of kidney, liver, and lung tissues. The results suggest that the vitamin B12 from the Chlorella biomass was bioavailable and facilitated the improvement of vitamin B12 status in deficient rats.

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Abbreviations

AIN:

American Institute of Nutrition

CPCSEA:

Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals

GRAS:

Generally Regarded As Safe

IAEC:

Institutional Animal Ethics Committee

IFCC:

International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine

HCT:

Hematocrit

Hcy:

Homocysteine

HGB:

Hemoglobin

KCN:

Potassium cyanide

MCH:

Mean corpuscular haemoglobin

MCHC:

Mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration

MCV:

Mean corpuscular volume

MMA:

Methyl malonic acid

PC:

Platelet count

PCV:

Packed cell volume

RBC:

Red blood cells

SGOT:

Serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase

SGPT:

Serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase

WBC:

White blood cells

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Acknowledgements

CKMB acknowledges CSIR, Government of India for the award of Senior Research Fellowship (31/5(543)/2017-EMR-I). The authors are thankful to Dr H P Ramesh for his help in the histopathological findings. The authors thank Dr. Shylaja M Dharmesh for her valuable inputs. Authors also thank the Director of CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore, Karnataka, India. The authors thank the DBT, Govt. of India, New Delhi, India, for providing a research grant (BT/PR10658/PFN/20/806/2013).

Funding

The authors thank the DBT, Govt. of India, New Delhi, India, for providing a research Grant (BT/PR10658/PFN/20/806/2013) to carry out this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Cell Biotechnology Department, CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore, India

    C. K. Madhubalaji, V. Rashmi, Vikas Singh Chauhan & R. Sarada

  2. Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, 201002, India

    C. K. Madhubalaji, Vikas Singh Chauhan & R. Sarada

Authors
  1. C. K. Madhubalaji
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  2. V. Rashmi
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  3. Vikas Singh Chauhan
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  4. R. Sarada
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Correspondence to Vikas Singh Chauhan or R. Sarada.

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Madhubalaji, C.K., Rashmi, V., Chauhan, V.S. et al. Improvement in vitamin B12 status of Wistar rats by supplementing the diet with Chlorella vulgaris biomass. J Food Sci Technol 58, 4270–4281 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-020-04901-9

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