Improvement of Analytical Conditions of Mineral Caco-2 Cell Uptake Assays

Caco-2 cell mineral uptake assays are used to estimate the bioavailability of minerals from foods. The uptake of minerals by Caco-2 cells can be affected by several factors – particularly the conditions of the in vitro digestion process and the growth conditions of the cell culture. Therefore, a standardisation of the assays conditions is required to obtain reproducible results. This work determined the effect of enzyme demineralisation, the inactivation of the proteolytic activity of the digest and the replacement of distilled-deionised water by cell culture degree water. Treatment with Chelex-100 resin was applied to remove calcium, iron and zinc from pepsin and pancreatin-bile salts. Th…