Effect Of High Zinc On Contents Of Iron And Zinc In Caco-2 Cells And Their Regulatory Gene Expressions

Iron and zinc are essential dietary trace metals required for a number of physiological and biochemical functions in the body. Recent cloning strategies have greatly improved our knowledge concerning the mechanisms by which iron and zinc cross the intestinal barrier.The purpose of our study was to gain a better understanding of the interaction between iron and zinc in the intestinal mucosa, in terms of uptaking these essential nutrients, and in turn to determine which ratio of these two trace metals might be the most efficient in absorption and bioavailability of both iron and zinc.Caco-2 cells have better tolerance in high zinc conditions. The viability of Caco-2 cells was significantly increased when exposured to high zinc medium. The zinc contents in Caco-2 cells were increased significantly after treatment with zinc but the iron contents were significantly decreased. Zinc supplement significantly increased the expression of DMT1, IREG1 and ZnT1 mRNA but decreased the expression of hZIP4 mRNA.There are antagonistic interactions between the uptake of iron and zinc in Caco-2 cells. The iron contents in Caco-2 cells were increased in the ratio 2 I 1 group, and the zinc contents were significantly increased in the ratio 1 : 1 group. The expression of DMT1, IREG1, ZnTl and hZIP4 mRNA were altered following exposured to the different ratios of iron and zinc.