Folate bioavailability in reconstructed skin models and effects of folate in a monolayer wound healing assay. Approaches on topic application.

In chronic and degenerative diseases impacting the skin folates play an important metabolic role improving wound healing and reducing skin irritations. In contrast to systemic folate administration little is known on skin penetration of folates after topical application. Here the penetration of simple aqueous solutions of reduced folates have been investigated with in-vitro reconstructed skin models mimicking the barrier of native human skin. For up to 24 h, penetration of the epidermis by newly developed folate salts and formulations were investigated. Aqueous and lipophilic solutions of L-formyltetrahydrofolate and L-mefolinate salts were able to penetrate the epidermis. Even more importantly, the skin model revealed the metabolic conversion of L-folinate to L-methyltetrahydrofolate. Exemplarily the effects of these new folate salts have been tested on wound healing in a scratch assay with primary human keratinocytes. All folates applied were able to enhance wound healing compared to the control.

Inflammation: opportunities for treatment stratification among individuals diagnosed with mood disorders

Mood disorders continue to be a significant burden to those affected, resulting in significant illness-associated disability and premature mortality. In addition to mood disturbance, individuals also suffer from other transdiagnostic impairments (eg, anhedonia and cognitive impairment). Although there have been significant advancements in psychiatric treatment over the last few decades, treatment efficacy (eg, symptom remission, lack of functional recovery, and disease modification) continues to be an important limitation. Consequently, there is an urgent need to identify novel approaches capable of addressing the foregoing needs, providing the basis for the exploration of conceptual models and treatment opportunities that consider inflammation to be a key factor in mood disorder development. In part driven by metabolic comorbidities, a large proportion of individuals with mood disorders also have an imbalance in the inflammatory milieu. The aim of this review is to highlight evidence implicating inflammation in various effector systems in mood disorders, with a particular focus on the intercommunication with glutamatergic signaling, immune system signaling, as well as metabolic parameters (eg, L-methyl folate bioavailability). This article also briefly reviews novel and repurposed agents that are capable of targeting the innate immune inflammatory system and possibly correcting an abnormal immune/inflammatory milieu (eg, infliximab).

Folate bioavailability from foods rich in folates assessed in a short term human study using stable isotope dilution assays

Different sources of folate may have different bioavailability and hence may impact the standard definition of folate equivalents.