In Vitro Estimates of Iron Bioavailability in Some Kenyan Complementary Foods

Abstract

Background. Iron-deficiency

The Combined Application of the Caco-2 Cell Bioassay Coupled with In Vivo (Gallus gallus) Feeding Trial Represents an Effective Approach to Predicting Fe Bioavailability in Humans

“…The in vitro digestion/Caco-2 cell culture model was used to evaluate Fe bioavailability from the tested diets by measuring ferritin in the cells (i.e., a measure of cell Fe uptake) following exposure to digests of the samples [4,11,15,16,17,18,20,21,34,52,55,59,60,61,62,66,69,70,71,82,84]. The results showed that in the red mottled beans study [11], ferritin concentrations were significantly higher ( p < 0.05) in cells exposed to the biofortified bean based diet vs. the standard bean based diet, as well as being higher in cells exposed to the Fe biofortified beans vs. the standard beans only ( n = 6, Table 5).…”

“…As evident in the literature, this model appears to be the most widely applied in vitro model in the field of Fe availability. It is a robust model as it has demonstrated the capability to examine a broad range of foods and meal conditions, and produces results that consistently agree with human studies, and also can investigate interactions and factors related to Fe bioavailability in foods [14,15,16,17,18,34,59,60,61,62,63,64,65,66]. …”

“…It was also demonstrated that the broiler model mimics the physiological effects of Fe deficiency as reported in other species [60]. As such, it is a relevant model as a source of tissues for in vitro Fe bioavailability studies, in vivo feeding trials, or both [15,16,17,55,60,61,67,68,69,70,71,82]. The poultry model has found a useful niche as an intermediate test of in vivo Fe bioavailability observations in preparation for subsequent human studies [60].…”

“…The Gallus gallus model was shown to exhibit the appropriate responses to Fe deficiency and that it can serve as a model for human Fe bioavailability. More specifically, it is a fast growing animal that is sensitive to dietary mineral deficiencies [60] and is very receptive to dietary manipulations [15,16,17,55,60,61,67,68,69,70,71]. There is also >85% homology between gene sequences of human and chicken intestinal divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1, the major intestinal Fe transporter), duodenal cytochrome B (DcytB, Fe reductase), ZnT1 (a major intestinal Zn exporter) and Ferroportin (the major intestinal enterocyte Fe exporter), which are key proteins that are essential for Fe and Zn metabolism [72].…”

Iron Bioavailability and Provitamin A from Sweet Potato- and Cereal-Based Complementary Foods

“…There is support for this in the research literature. In an in vitro study conducted by Lung’aho & Glahn (2009), the trend of data suggested that the addition of sweet potato (cultivar not specified) to food mixes potentiated iron bioavailability from household-level recipes [17], and a review suggested that sweet potato, particularly the OFSP food matrix, would be expected to promote iron absorption [18]. …”