Pseudovitamin B₁₂ Is the Predominant Cobamide of an Algal Health Food, Spirulina Tablets

Abstract

The vitamin B(12) concentration of an algal health food, spirulina (Spirulina sp.) tablets, was determined by both Lactobacillus leichmannii ATCC 7830 microbiological and intrinsic factor chemiluminescence methods. The values determined with the microbiological method were approximately 6-9-fold greater in the spirulina tablets than the values determined with the chemiluminescence method. Although most of the vitamin B(12) determined with the microbiological method was derived from various vitamin B(12) substitutive compounds and/or inactive vitamin B(12) analogues, the spirulina contained a small amount of vitamin B(12) active in the binding of the intrinsic factor. Two intrinsic factor active vitamin B(12) analogues (major and minor) were purified from the spirulina tablets and partially characterized. The major (83%) and minor (17%) analogues were identified as pseudovitamin B(12) and vitamin B(12), respectively, as judged from data of TLC, reversed-phase HPLC, (1)H NMR spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, and biological activity using L. leichmannii as a test organism and the binding of vitamin B(12) to the intrinsic factor.

Characterization and Bioavailability of Vitamin B12-Compounds from Edible Algae.

“…contain substantial amounts of true B12 (17,18,22), but the other edible algae (kombu, duce or arame) shown in Tables 5 and 6 contain none or only traces of B12, especially, most of not be bioavailable in mammals (6)(7)(8). Our studies have demonstrated that most B12-compound found in spir ulina tablets is pseudo-B12 inactive for humans (19). IF involved in the intestinal absorption of B12 strictly rec ognizes the structure of the B12 molecule (30).…”

“…Microalgae used for human health foods Spirulina (Spirulina sp., a blue-green alga) tablets also contain large amounts of B12 (7). The B12 concentration of spirulina tablets was determined by both Lactobacillus microbiological and IF-chemiluminescence methods (12,19). The values determined using the microbiolog ical method were about 9-fold greater than the values determined using the chemiluminescence method (Table 3).…”

“…Although Herbert and Drivas (6) reported that most types of B12 found in the spirulina tablets are biologically inactive corrinoids, probably cobinamide like compounds, there is no detailed information on the chemical properties of the spirulina corrinoids. Recently, two corrinoids were purified from spirulina tablets and partially characterized (19). The major (83%) and minor (17%) compounds were identified as pseudo-B12 and B12, respectively, as judged from data of TLC, C18 reversed-phase HPLC (Table 4), 1H-NMR spec troscopy and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (data not shown).…”

Age-Related Alterations of B-Group Vitamin Contents in Urine, Blood and Liver from Rats

“…Vitamin B 12 : Liver homogenate, plasma or urine were added to 0.2 mmol/L acetate buffer (pH 4.8), and the vitamin B 12 was converted to cyanocobalamin by boiling with 0.0006% potassium cyanide at acidic pH ( 17 ). Cyanocobalamin was determined by the microbioassay method using Lactobacillus leichmanii , ATCC 7830 ( 17 ).…”

Twenty-four-hour urinary water-soluble vitamin levels correlate with their intakes in free-living Japanese university students

“…Urinary vitamin B 6 metabolite, 4-PIC was determined by HPLC (Gregory and Kirk, 1979). To measure urinary vitamin B 12 , urine samples were added to 0.2 mmol/l acetate buffer (pH 4.8), vitamin B 12 was converted to cyanocobalamin by boiling with 0.0006% potassium cyanide at acidic pH, and cyanocobalamin was determined by a microbioassay using Lactobacillus leichmanii ATCC 7830 (Watanabe et al, 1999). Urinary N 1 -methyl-2-pyridone-5-carboxamide, N 1 -methyl-4-pyridone-3-carboxamide (Shibata et al, 1988), and N 1 -methylnicotinamide (Shibata, 1987) were determined by the HPLC method, and the sum of these compounds was determined as nicotinamide metabolites.…”