Transport of digesta in the human and porcine small intestinal mucus
2017
Small intestinal mucus has evolved to provide a robust barrier that can trap and immobilise potentially hazardous particulates such as bacteria and yet still allow the passage of nutrients to the epithelium. However, the rules governing this selective barrier function remain largely unknown, and scientific studies rely usually on animal mucus samples to explain this part of human physiology.
In our study we used quantitative confocal microscopy to look at the transport characteristics in porcine ex vivo intestinal mucus of post-digestion lipid droplets that derived from in vitro digestion of yogurt. We also used a multiple-particle tracking technique to investigate the permeability of the mucus to model, sub-micron size particles. This was done in order to compare the microrheology of the mucus between different locations in the small intestine (e.g. proximal jejunum vs. distal ileum).
Most importantly, we used the above experimental approaches to investigate the permeability of human ex vivo small intestinal mucus that was obtained from a number of healthy subjects. This type of human material is not easily available for research purposes. Therefore the major aim of our study was to compare the diffusion of particulates in human mucus with diffusion in porcine mucus.
Our results shed light on whether the readily available porcine mucus is a reliable substitute for studying the microstructure and permeability of the mucus layer in the human small intestine. This will potentially contribute to simulating, in a more physiologically-relevant fashion, not only the digestion processes, but also the transport and absorption mechanisms in the gut.
Such insights will help support efforts to both engineer fabricated foods with enhanced nutritional quality required to fight various diet-related health problems, and to overcome the failure of many pharmaceutical and nutraceutical preparations to provide effective oral delivery of active compounds.
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