Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, 40127 Bologna, Italy.
Department of Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
Nutrients. 2020 May 29;12(6):1591. doi: 10.3390/nu12061591.
Polyphenols display health-promoting properties linked to their biological activities. They are initially absorbed in the small intestine, then they are largely metabolized in the colon, whereupon they are able to exert systemic effects. The health-promoting properties of polyphenols have led to the development of food supplements, which are also largely consumed by healthy people, even if data on their safety are still yet lacking. In the present paper, the content of gallic acid and ferulic acid was analyzed in two supplements, and shown to be higher than the relative contents found in fruit and flour. To evaluate the effects of these phenolic compounds on epithelial intestinal tissue, gallic and ferulic acids were added to a new in vitro model of the intestinal wall at different concentrations. The effects on viability, proliferation and migration of these compounds were respectively tested on three different cell lines (Caco2, L929 and U937), as well as on a tridimensional intestinal model, composed of a mucosal layer and a submucosa with fibroblasts and monocytes. Results indicated that gallic and ferulic acids can exert toxic effects on in vitro cell models at high concentrations, suggesting that an excessive and uncontrolled consumption of polyphenols may induce negative effects on the intestinal wall.
多酚具有促进健康的特性，与其生物活性有关。它们最初在小肠中被吸收，然后在结肠中被大量代谢，从而能够发挥全身作用。多酚的促进健康的特性导致了食品补充剂的发展，即使关于其安全性的数据仍然缺乏，健康人也大量食用这些补充剂。在本文中，分析了两种补充剂中没食子酸和阿魏酸的含量，结果表明其含量高于水果和面粉中的相对含量。为了评估这些酚类化合物对肠上皮组织的影响，将没食子酸和阿魏酸以不同浓度添加到肠壁的新体外模型中。分别在三种不同的细胞系（Caco2、L929 和 U937）以及由粘膜层和含有成纤维细胞和单核细胞的粘膜下层组成的三维肠模型上测试了这些化合物对活力、增殖和迁移的影响。结果表明，在高浓度下，没食子酸和阿魏酸可对体外细胞模型产生毒性作用，这表明多酚的过度和不受控制的消耗可能对肠壁产生负面影响。
