
Simulated Gut Measures Iron Available From
FoodBy Hank Becker August 13, 1999An artificial gut invented by
Agricultural Research Service scientists
promises to accelerate knowledge about the amount of iron available from food
and food supplements. The system is the first to model in the lab what occurs
in the human intestinal tract. The research, led by ARS human physiologist Raymond P. Glahn, has already
led to suggestions for improving the nutritional makeup of infant formula. The model should have broad applications for studying staples like rice,
corn, wheat and beans; food supplements; pharmaceutical iron preparations, and
baby foods such as formula, cereals and purees, according to Glahn. He's based
at the agency's U.S.
Plant, Soil and Nutrition Laboratory in Ithaca, N.Y. ARS is the chief
research agency of USDA. Iron deficiency is the world's most prevalent nutrient deficiency. Even in
developed countries, it remains a serious concern for women during pregnancy
and childbearing years. Children, too, must receive proper iron nutrition. To help solve the problem, Glahn and colleagues have developed an in vitro
model. It couples simulated food digestion with a human intestinal cell line,
Caco-2. The model allows food digestion to occur simultaneously with
opportunity for nutrient uptake by Caco-2 cells. So far, Glahn and co-workers have used the system to investigate iron
availability of rice cereal, infant formulas and iron supplements. His model is
a fast, inexpensive, easy method for determining the relative availability of
iron from different foods or from different crop varieties of the same food.
The research team continues to improve and expand the model, which may
eventually be used to measure bioavailability of other micronutrients, such as
vitamin A, zinc, selenium and iodine. Future studies will determine iron and
zinc bioavailability in other micronutrient-enriched, staple food crops
including corn, wheat and cassava. More details appear in a story in the August issue of Agricultural Research magazine
and on the web at: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/aug99/iron0899.htm Scientific contact: Raymond P. Glahn, ARS U.S. Plant, Soil and
Nutrition Laboratory, Ithaca, N.Y., phone (607) 255-2457, fax (607) 255-1132,
[email protected]. U.S. Department of Agriculture | |