title: Molecular and cellular effects of food contaminants and secondary plant components and their plausible interactions at the intestinal level.
abstract: The intestinal mucosa is not simply a barrier allowing entry of compounds such as nutrients or chemicals, and restricting that of others. Intestinal cells and activities perform selective absorption, biotransformations and efflux back to the lumen. Furthermore, food substances affect both bioavailability and intestinal function. Some are able to act as transcriptional regulators and enzyme modulators. This review points out plausible interactions between food contaminants and/or natural constituents at molecular and cellular levels and focuses on the effects of classical (pesticides and veterinary drugs), environmental (heavy metals, PCBs, dioxins, etc.) and food processing generated (PAHs, heterocyclic amines, etc.) contaminants on absorption, metabolism and efflux. Special attention is given to secondary metabolites of molds (mycotoxins) and plants (polyphenols). Molecular targets are briefly described as well as regulation mechanisms. Where possible, data referred to deal with human intestinal functions in vivo, and with in vitro studies on human intestinal Caco-2 cells; however, since data related to the intestine are rather scarce, effects on molecular targets in liver are also considered. This review also points out the urgent need for fully validated high throughput in vitro tools to screen combinations of substances, at realistic intestinal concentrations. A higher priority could then be given to combinations of nutrients, xenobiotics and food contaminants, with hazardous or beneficial impacts on human health.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biochimie Cellulaire, Nutritionnelle et Toxicologique, Institut des Sciences de la Vie & Université Catholique de Louvain, Croix du Sud, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
authors.forename: Thérèse
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sergent
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ribonnet
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kolosova
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Garsou
authors.forename: Annelore
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schaut
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: De Saeger
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Van Peteghem
authors.forename: Yvan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Larondelle
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pussemier
authors.forename: Yves-Jacques
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Schneider
mesh_terms: D001682:Biological Availability; D001711:Biotransformation; D004798:Enzymes / Q000378:metabolism; D005506:Food Contamination; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism*; D010944:Plants / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004798:Enzymes