Vitamins & Minerals

An Amino Acid-Oligosaccharide Complex Increases Mineral Bioavailability In Vitro

Abstract

Rabovsky AB and William Diehl-Jones

Limitations in the efficacy of mineral supplements include poor solubility at intestinal pH, low bioavailability and, particularly in the case with iron and copper, catalysis of oxidation. To address these limitations we tested a novel amino acid-oligosaccharide complex in a previously-validated in vitro digestion/absorption system. A proprietary multimineral/ multivitamin admixture in either the novel organic or inorganic mineral forms were subjected to simulated gastric and intestinal digestion, followed by apical exposure to Caco-2/HT-29MTX enterocyte co-cultures. Bioavailability was assessed by minerals and ascorbic acid analysis of fluid from the basolateral culture compartment. Intracellular oxidative flux was measured using the fluorescent probe 5-(and-6)-chloromethyl-2, 7-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate acetyl ester (CM-H2 DCFDA). Compared to the inorganic mineral form, the organic matrix yielded significant increases in mineral solubility, and yielded several-fold increases in basolateral concentrations of all minerals tested (manganese 3.3x; copper 3.1x; iron 2.1x; and zinc 4.4x) compared to the inorganic matrix. Cells exposed to the organic formulation also had significantly lower levels of intracellular oxidation after a one-hour treatment. We conclude that the amino acid oligo-fructose formulation significantly increases mineral and ascorbic acid bioavailability and decreases intracellular oxidative stress in vitro.