Intestinal cell models for investigating the uptake, metabolism and absorption of dietary nutrients and bioactive compounds

Abstract

• Caco-2 cells have been widely used to assess dietary compound uptake and absorption. • Enteroids derived from intestinal stem cells better mimic human gut morphology. • Coupling gut chips with other organ-specific platforms may ease bioavailability studies. • High-throughput analytical tools are available to measure transport and metabolism. The Caco-2 human intestinal cell line has been widely adopted to mimic the in vivo small intestinal epithelium for screening the characteristics and mechanisms of the uptake, metabolism and absorption of dietary compounds and drugs. Marked advances in stem cell biology and tissue engineering have led to the development of novel organoid and microfluidic models that better replicate key aspects of the physiology of the human gut and are expected to generate more biologically relevant information with improved predictive reliability. Parallel developments in analytical chemistry provide investigators with the necessary sensitivity to monitor the transport, metabolism and efficacy of dietary compounds in such intestinal cell models. These in vitro cell systems are facilitating the investigation of questions that address the health promoting benefits of diverse compounds in foods and meals towards novel discoveries.