WG3: Intestinal Barrier Models

▶️ WG3 leaders:

✒️ Dr Linda Giblin / Principal Research Officer |Food bioavailability, in vitro gut barrier models|Teagasc Food Research Centre, Moorepark | Co.Cork P61C996  - Ireland  / Email: linda.giblin@teagasc.ie  | @lindagiblin

▶️ WG3 Subgroups leaders:

• Alina Kondrashina (H&H Global)
• Gianfranco Mamone (CNR, Italy)
• Shanna Bastiaan-Net (WUR, The Netherlands)
• Beatriz Miralles (CSIC-CIAL, Spain)
• Lidia Tomás (AINIA, Spain)
• Elena Arranz  (UAM, Spain)

▶️ Main objectives:

• To establish a series of recommendations for the treatment of intestinal barriers models with digested food or faecal/colonic fermentation samples
• To compare and contrast food permeability data generated from in vitro cellular models with in vivo food bioavailability data

▶️ Main activites:

WG3 was established in 2019 in response to knowledge gaps identified by conference participants at the 6th International Conference on Food Digestion, Granada, Spain.

The WG3 is subdivided into 7 subgroups (A-G), each with it’s own leader:

A. Food digesta detoxification for cellular models: Establish protocols to prepare/detoxify digested food samples for addition to intestinal barrier models. Led by Alina Kondrashina – H&H Group, Ireland.

B. Inclusion of Brush border enzymes: How to incorporate brush border enzymes within standardized INFOGEST protocols. Led by Gianfranco Mamone - CNR, Italy

C. Allergenic sensitization/inflammation: Define critical features that an in vitro intestinal barrier model must meet to test the allergenic sensitization/inflammatory activity of food components. Led by Shanna Bastiaan-Net – WUR, The Netherlands

D. Permeability ring-trial: Perform a ring trial to validate standardized protocols of sample preparation and cell treatments. Led by Beatriz Miralles – CSIC-CIAL, Spain

E. Fecal/Colonic fermentation detoxification: Detoxification of colonic fermentation samples for cell culture research. This subgroup also aims to collate/define protocols to test microbial metabolite bioactivities. Led by Lidia Tomás – AINIA, Spain

F. Cellular bioassays: Standardize cellular bioassay protocols employed to test digested food samples for bioactivity. Led by Elena Arranz - UAM, Spain.

G. Compare & contrast in vivo and in vitro models of nutrient bioavailability: What is the correlation of in vitro models of nutrient absorption to real life?  Leader to be assigned.

▶️ Main Results:

3 positional papers published in high impact journals with impressive view numbers (Click onto the titles to look at the full publication):

1. Kondrashina A, Arranz E, Cilla A, Faria MA, Santos-Hernández M, Miralles B, Hashemi N, Rasmussen MK, Young JF, Barberá R, Mamone G, Tomás-Cobos L, Bastiaan-Net S, Corredig M, Giblin L. 2023. Coupling in vitro food digestion with in vitro epithelial absorption; recommendations for biocompatibility. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition. May 26:1-19. doi: 10.1080/10408398.2023.2214628. Impact Factor 11.2

2. Dijk W, Villa C, Benedé S, Vassilopoulou E, Mafra I, Garrido-Arandia M, Martínez Blanco M, Bouchaud G, Hoppenbrouwers T, Bavaro SL, Giblin L, Knipping K, Castro AM, Delgado S, Costa J, Bastiaan-Net S. 2023. Critical features of an in vitro intestinal absorption model to study the first key aspects underlying food allergen sensitization. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety. Mar;22(2):971-1005. doi: 10.1111/1541-4337.13097. Impact Factor 15.7

3. Hevia A, Ruas-Madiedo P, Faria MA, Petit V, Alves B, Alvito P, Arranz E, Bastiaan-Net S, Corredig M, Dijk W, Dupont D, Giblin L, Graf BA, Kondrashina A, Ramos H, Ruiz L, Santos-Hernández M, Soriano-Romaní L, Tomás-Cobos L, Vivanco-Maroto SM, Recio I, Miralles B. 2023. A Shared Perspective on in Vitro and in Vivo Models to Assay Intestinal Transepithelial Transport of Food Compounds. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Dec 13;71(49):19265-19276. doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.3c05479. Impact factor 5.7

▶️ What’s next ? The WG3 Priority in 2024:

➡️ Permeability Ring trial, led by B.Miralles (CIAL-CSIC): 15 Research Institutes from 7 countries will particpate.

➡️ Aims:

(1) To standardise Caco2-HT29MTX protocols across labs to understand inter lab variability

(2) To assess day 21 Caco2-HT29MTX monolayers for correlation to published small intestine data

▶️ To learn more:

➡️ Download the INFOGEST WG3 Flyer: HERE

     ➡️ If you would like to join our working group:

Please, email Dr. Elena Arranz with ‘INFOGEST-WG3’ in the subject heading