TY - JOUR A1 - Böhmert, L. A1 - Girod, Matthias A1 - Hansen, Ulf A1 - Maul, Ronald A1 - Knappe, Patrick A1 - Niemann, B. A1 - Weidner, Steffen A1 - Thünemann, Andreas A1 - Lampen, A. T1 - Analytically monitored digestion of silver nanoparticles and their toxicity on human intestinal cells N2 - Orally ingested nanoparticles may overcome the gastrointestinal barrier, reach the circulatory system, be distributed in the organism and cause adverse health effects. However, ingested nanoparticles have to pass through different physicochemical environments, which may alter their properties before they reach the intestinal cells. In this study, silver nanoparticles are characterised physicochemically during the course of artificial digestion to simulate the biochemical processes occurring during digestion. Their cytotoxicity on intestinal cells was investigated using the Caco-2 cell model. Using field-flow fractionation combined with dynamic light scattering and small-angle X-ray scattering, the authors found that particles only partially aggregate as a result of the digestive process. Cell viabilities were determined by means of CellTiter-Blue® assay, 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole-staining and real-time impedance. These measurements reveal small differences between digested and undigested particles (1–100 µg/ml or 1–69 particles/cell). The findings suggest that silver nanoparticles may indeed overcome the gastrointestinal juices in their particulate form without forming large quantities of aggregates. Consequently, the authors presume that the particles can reach the intestinal epithelial cells after ingestion with only a slight reduction in their cytotoxic potential. The study indicates that it is important to determine the impact of body fluids on the nanoparticles of interest to provide a reliable interpretation of their nano-specific cytotoxicity testing in vivo and in vitro. KW - Silver nanoparticles KW - In vitro digestion KW - Field-flow fractionation KW - Small-angle X-ray scattering KW - Dynamic light scattering KW - Caco-2 cells PY - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3109/17435390.2013.815284 SN - 1743-5390 SN - 1743-5404 VL - 8 IS - 6 SP - 631 EP - 642 PB - Informa Healthcare CY - London AN - OPUS4-29926 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Andres, S. A1 - Hansen, Ulf A1 - Niemann, B. A1 - Palavinskas, R. A1 - Lampen, A. T1 - Determination of the isoflavone composition and estrogenic activity of commercial dietary supplements based on soy or red clover N2 - Dietary supplements high in isolated isoflavones are commercially available for human consumption primarily to alleviate menopausal symptoms in women. The isoflavone composition, quantity and importantly their estrogenic potency are poorly standardised and can vary considerably between different products. The aim of this study was to analyse the isoflavone composition of 11 dietary supplements based on soy or red clover using the HPLC/MS/MS technique. Furthermore, we investigated the transactivational potential of the supplements on the estrogen receptors (ER), ERα and ERβ, performing luciferase reporter gene assays. As expected, we found that the isoflavone composition varies between different products. The measured total isoflavone contents in various supplements were mostly comparable to those claimed by the manufacturers in their product information. However expressing the isoflavone content as isoflavone aglycone equivalents, soy-based supplements had a clearly lower quantity compared to the manufacturer information. All supplements transactivated more or less ERα and ERβ with a preference for ERβ. The transactivational efficiency exceeded partly the maximal 17β-estradiol induced ER activation. While the different soy-based supplements revealed similar transactivation potential to both ERs, red clover-based supplements differed considerably. We conclude that different commercial dietary supplements based on soy or red clover vary in their isoflavone composition and quantity. They are estrogenically active, although especially the red clover-based supplements show considerable differences in their estrogenic potential to ERα and ERβ. Thus, different isoflavone-rich products cannot be necessarily compared regarding possible biological effects. KW - estrogenic activity KW - HPLC/MS/MS technique KW - Estrogen receptor (ER) KW - nutritional supplements PY - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-357093 IS - 6 SP - 2017 EP - 2025 PB - The Royal Soc. of Chemistry CY - Cambridge AN - OPUS4-35709 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -