Cytotoxicity, Uptake Behaviors, and Oral Absorption of Food Grade Calcium Carbonate Nanomaterials

Nanomaterials

Mi-Kyung Kim¹  Jeong-A. Lee¹  Mi-Rae Jo¹  Min-Kyu Kim³  Hyoung-Mi Kim³  Jae-Min Oh³  Nam Woong Song²  Soo-Jin Choi¹ 

[1] Department of Food Science and Technology, Seoul Women’s University, 621 Hwarang-ro, Nowon-gu, Seoul 139-774, Korea; E-Mails:;Center for Nanosafety Metrology, Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science, 267 Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-340, Korea; E-Mail:;Department of Chemistry and Medical Chemistry, College of Science and Technology, 1 Yonseidaegil, Wonju, Gangwondo 220-710, Korea; E-Mails:

关键词: calcium carbonate;    cytotoxicity;    cellular uptake;    intestinal transport;    oral absorption;   

DOI  :  10.3390/nano5041938

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Calcium is the most abundant mineral in human body and essential for the formation and maintenance of bones and teeth as well as diverse cellular functions. Calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) is widely used as a dietary supplement; however, oral absorption efficiency of CaCO₃ is extremely low, which may be overcome by applying nano-sized materials. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of food grade nano CaCO₃ in comparison with that of bulk- or reagent grade nano CaCO₃ in terms of cytotoxicity, cellular uptake, intestinal transport, and oral absorption. Cytotoxicity results demonstrated that nano-sized CaCO₃ particles were slightly more toxic than bulk materials in terms of oxidative stress and membrane damage. Cellular uptake behaviors of CaCO₃ nanoparticles were different from bulk CaCO₃ or Ca²⁺ ions in human intestinal epithelial cells, showing efficient cellular internalization and elevated intracellular Ca²⁺ levels. Meanwhile, CaCO₃ nanoparticles were efficiently transported by microfold (M) cells in vitro model of human intestinal follicle-associated epithelium, in a similar manner as Ca²⁺ ions did. Biokinetic study revealed that the biological fate of CaCO₃ particles was different from Ca²⁺ ions; however, in vivo, its oral absorption was not significantly affected by particle size. These findings provide crucial information to understand and predict potential toxicity and oral absorption efficiency of food grade nanoparticles.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.