Scientific Publications
Sodium alginate decreases the permeability of intestinal mucus
Food Hydrocolloids, 52, 749-755
In the small intestine the nature of the environment leads to a highly heterogeneous mucuslayer primarily composed of the MUC2 mucin. We set out to investigate whether the soluble dietaryfibre sodium alginate could alter the permeability of the mucus layer. The alginate was shown to freelydiffuse into the mucus and to have minimal effect on the bulk rheology when added at concentrationsbelow 0.1%. Despite this lack of interaction between the mucin and alginate, the addition of alginatehad a marked effect on the diffusion of 500nm probe particles, which decreased as a function ofincreasing alginate concentration. Finally, we passed a protein stabilised emulsion through asimulation of oral, gastric and small intestinal digestion. We subsequently showed that the addition of0.1% alginate to porcine intestinal mucus decreased the diffusion of fluorescently labelled lipid presentin the emulsion digesta. This reduction may be sufficient to reduce problems associated with high ratesof lipid absorption such as hyperlipidaemia.
Food Hydrocolloids, 52, 749-755
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