Determination of the potential bioavailability of plant microRNAs using a simulated human digestion process

TY - JOUR

T1 - Determination of the potential bioavailability of plant microRNAs using a simulated human digestion process

AU - Philip, Anna

AU - Ferro, Valerie A.

AU - Tate, Rothwelle J.

N1 - This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Philip, A., Ferro, V. A., & Tate, R. J. (2015). Determination of the potential bioavailability of plant microRNAs using a simulated human digestion process. Molecular Nutrition and Food Research. , which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mnfr.201500137. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - The “dietary xenomiR hypothesis” proposes that microRNAs (miRNAs) in foodstuffs survive transit through the mammalian gastrointestinal tract and pass into cells intact to affect gene regulation. However, debate continues as to whether dietary intake poses a feasible route for such exogenous gene regulators. Understanding on miRNA levels during pre-treatments of human diet is essential to test their bioavailability during digestion. This study makes the novel first use of an in vitro method to eliminate the inherent complexities and variability of in vivo approaches used to test this hypothesis. Plant miRNA levels in soybean and rice were measured during storage, processing, cooking, and early digestion using real-time PCR. We have demonstrated for the first time that storage, processing, and cooking does not abolish the plant miRNAs present in the foodstuffs. In addition, utilizing a simulated human digestion system revealed significant plant miRNA bioavailability after early stage digestion for 75 min. Attenuation of plant messenger RNA and synthetic miRNA was observed under these conditions. Even after an extensive pretreatment, plant-derived miRNA, delivered by typical dietary ingestion, has a robustness that could make them bioavailable for uptake during early digestion. The potential benefit of these regulatory molecules in pharma-nutrition could be explored further.

AB - The “dietary xenomiR hypothesis” proposes that microRNAs (miRNAs) in foodstuffs survive transit through the mammalian gastrointestinal tract and pass into cells intact to affect gene regulation. However, debate continues as to whether dietary intake poses a feasible route for such exogenous gene regulators. Understanding on miRNA levels during pre-treatments of human diet is essential to test their bioavailability during digestion. This study makes the novel first use of an in vitro method to eliminate the inherent complexities and variability of in vivo approaches used to test this hypothesis. Plant miRNA levels in soybean and rice were measured during storage, processing, cooking, and early digestion using real-time PCR. We have demonstrated for the first time that storage, processing, and cooking does not abolish the plant miRNAs present in the foodstuffs. In addition, utilizing a simulated human digestion system revealed significant plant miRNA bioavailability after early stage digestion for 75 min. Attenuation of plant messenger RNA and synthetic miRNA was observed under these conditions. Even after an extensive pretreatment, plant-derived miRNA, delivered by typical dietary ingestion, has a robustness that could make them bioavailable for uptake during early digestion. The potential benefit of these regulatory molecules in pharma-nutrition could be explored further.

KW - cross kingdom regulation

KW - simulated digestion

KW - nutraceutical

KW - MicroRNA

KW - diet

U2 - 10.1002/mnfr.201500137

DO - 10.1002/mnfr.201500137

M3 - Article

JO - Molecular Nutrition and Food Research

JF - Molecular Nutrition and Food Research

SN - 1613-4125

ER -