Studies on the bioavailability of the provitamin A carotenoid, β-carotene, using human exfoliated colonic epithelial cells

Abstract

The possibility of using exfoliated colonic epithelial cells for assessing the bioavailability of b-carotene was examined. Analysis of exfoliated colonic epithelial cells showed the presence of b-carotene and vitamin A. The b-carotene content was significantly lower in cells from stool samples of subjects on a b-carotene-poor diet than those receiving a single dose of a b-carotene supplement. Colonic epithelial cells isolated from stool samples collected daily during a wash-out period while the subjects were on a b-carotene-poor diet showed a steady decrease in b-carotene content, reaching the lowest value on day 7. Kinetic analysis showed that a single dose of a b-carotene supplement in the form of spirulina (Spirulina platensis) or agathi (Sesbania grandiflora) after the wash-out period caused an increase in the b-carotene content after a lag period of 5 -7 d, but the vitamin A levels during these periods were not significantly affected. Analysis of plasma b-carotene concentration also showed similar changes, which correlated with those of exfoliated colonic cells. A relationship between the b-carotene content of the diet and that of the colonic epithelial cells suggests that analysis of the b-carotene content in exfoliated human colonic epithelial cells is a useful non-invasive method to assess the bioavailability of provitamin A b-carotene.Bioavailability: Vitamin A: b-Carotene: Colonic epithelial cells

Role of human milk components in gastrointestinal development: Current knowledge and future NEEDS

“…One-third to one-sixth of the enterocytes lining the intestine (approximately 10 10 cells) were shed daily into the stool in normal conditions. 159 Exfoliated enterocytes and colonocytes have been used to measure host response to dietary constituents, including nutrient uptake 160 and gene expression by polymerase chain reaction or gene microarray. [161][162][163][164] Gene expression in epithelial cells isolated from stool is modulated by disease 163,164 or dietary treatments, 160,161,164 suggesting that they provide a sensitive noninvasive marker for epithelial cell function.…”

Preventive effects of Spirulina platensis on skeletal muscle damage under exercise-induced oxidative stress

“…Many products such as carnitine (Kanter and Williamhe 1995), vitamin C (Goldfarb 1995), vitamin E (Goldfarb 1995;Beaton et al 2002), co-enzyme Q10 (Svensson et al 1999), zinc (Micheletti et al 2001), colecithin (Wu et al 2000), proanthocyanidin (Bagchi et al 2000), creatine (Powers et al 2004), polyphenols (Matuschek andSvanberg 2002), astaxanthin (Chien et al 2003), and beta-carotine (Gireesh et al 2004), etc. were shown to have signiWcant eVect on anti-oxidation.…”

In vitrouptake of β-carotene by human exfoliated colonic epithelial cells

“…Colonic epithelial cells were extracted and HPLC analysis was performed using a SPD 10A Shimadzu liquid chromatograph (Shimadzu, Kyoto, Japan) operating at room temperature as described previously (Gireesh et al 2004). A Whatman Partisil-5 ODS 3 column (Whatman Plc, Kent, UK) was used.…”

“…Recently we have shown that exfoliated colonic epithelial cells isolated from stool samples of human subjects contain vitamin A and provitamin A carotenoids (Gireesh et al 2004). A direct relation between the dietary availability of carotenoids and the content of carotenoids in exfoliated colonic epithelial cells was found.…”