Food Contaminants and Global Health Impact: an overview of recent intestinal in vitro models

Sousa, Bruna; Alvito, Paula

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.18/8678

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Authors

Sousa, Bruna

Alvito, Paula

Abstract(s)

Food safety and security are two complementing elements of our sustainable future. Future food security needs to be sustainable without compromising food safety to achieve the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDG). Human health and environmental are interlinked through diet since food ingestion is one the main routes of exposure to several contaminants. The intestine is an important digestive organ of the human body, and its barrier is the guardian of the body from the external environment. The impairment of the intestinal barrier is believed to be an important determinant in various foodborne diseases. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms of the impact of the food contaminants on intestinal barriers is essential for promoting human health. In vitro studies with different cell lines are a great option to predict the in vivo response. Over the last 20 years, Caco-2 (cell culture derived from a colorectal adenocarcinoma) have been the most widely use cell model. However, nowadays there are other types of cell models with fewer limitations. Organoids (stem cell-derived 3D culture systems) and organs-on-chip (multi-channel 3-D microfluidic cell culture, a type of artificial organ) models has been used to study some intestine mechanisms once these models can recapitulate the physiological morphology of 3D intestinal cells and tissues or restore other important differentiated intestinal functions. In this study, a literature search was performed with the objective of identifying publications on food contaminants and most recent intestinal cell models, from 2018-2022. The literature search using the terms “organ-on-a-chip”, “food contaminants” or “intestine”, “cell models”, “organoids”, “organ-on-a-chip” was performed using the database PubMed. The literature search identified 21 publications. Until now only one paper reported the use of food contaminats (dioxins) and recent intestinal in vitro models (gut-on-a-chip). At present, the cost of manufacturing and experimental implementation is still relatively expensive, which is not conducive to the widespread use of organ chips. The organ-on-a-chip is in the list of top 10 emerging technologies and a promising alternative to the use of animals in toxicological studies. In the future it is possible that these models will be used to study the relationship between the intestine and food contaminants.