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Concept
Inositol
Summary
Inositol, or more precisely myo-inositol, is a carbocyclic sugar that is abundant in the brain and other mammalian tissues; it mediates cell signal transduction in response to a variety of hormones, neurotransmitters, and growth factors and participates in osmoregulation.
It is a sugar alcohol with half the sweetness of sucrose (table sugar). It is made naturally in the human body from glucose. A human kidney makes about two grams per day. Other tissues synthesize it too, and the highest concentration is in the brain, where it plays an important role in making other neurotransmitters and some steroid hormones bind to their receptors.
Inositol is promoted as a dietary supplement in the management of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). However, there is only evidence of very low quality for its efficacy in increasing fertility for IVF in women with PCOS.
myo-Inositol plays an important role as the structural basis for a number of secondary messengers in eukaryotic cells, the various inositol phosphates. In addition, inositol serves as an important component of the structural lipids phosphatidylinositol (PI) and its various phosphates, the phosphatidylinositol phosphate (PIP) lipids.
Inositol or its phosphates and associated lipids are found in many foods, in particular fruit, especially cantaloupe and oranges. In plants, the hexaphosphate of inositol, phytic acid or its salts, the phytates, serve as phosphate stores in seed, for example in nuts and beans. Phytic acid also occurs in cereals with high bran content. Phytate is, however, not directly bioavailable to humans in the diet, since it is not digestible. Some food preparation techniques partly break down phytates to change this. However, inositol in the form of glycerophospholipids, as found in certain plant-derived substances such as lecithins, is well absorbed and relatively bioavailable.
myo-Inositol (free of phosphate) was once considered a member of the vitamin B complex, called Vitamin B8 in this context. However, because it is produced by the human body from glucose, it is not an essential nutrient.
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