myo-Inositol

myo-Inositol (MI) is a sugar-like molecule, found primarily in the glial cells of human brain. It is a stereoisomer of a C6 sugar alcohol, which is part of the inositol family. It serves as the precursor of inositol triphosphate, and as an intracellular second messenger. Myo-inositol regulates several hormones like thyroid-stimulating hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and insulin. Myo-inositol and d-chiro-inositol, which is another stereoisomeric form of inositol, contribute to balancing various metabolic deregulations associated with insulin resistance (IR) in different ways.

myo-Inositol has been used:

• as a standard for monosaccharide analysis by gas-liquid chromatography (GC)
• as a component of R-free seahorse media for cultivation of peritoneal macrophages (PMΦs) to study cellular glycolytic metabolism
• as a SOFaaci media supplement for extending in vitro embryo growth
• as a component of α minimum essential medium (αMEM) complete media to culture natural killer (NK) cell line

myo-Inositol (MI) serves as an osmolyte and is an important precursor of membrane phospho-inositides and phospholipids. It aids in the formation of the cell membrane and myelin sheet structures. Increased concentration of myo-Inositol (MI) is observed in various brain disorders such as Alzheimer′s disease, gliomatosis cerebri, and brain tumors.

A component of membrane phospholipids, glycosyl­phosphatidyl­inositol anchors that bind glycoproteins to cell membranes, and inositol phosphate second messengers.