Related Experiment Videos
Ribonucleic acid hydrolysis by intestinal explants of neonatal piglets
Ricardo Rueda1, Carmen Gómez-León, Angel Gil
1R&D Department, Ross Products Division, Abbott Laboratories, Granada, Spain. Ricardo.Rueda@abbott.com
Insights
Infant intestines can break down ribonucleic acid (RNA) into nucleosides, suggesting breast milk RNA offers a nutritional benefit. This may impact how infant formulas are supplemented with nucleotides.
Area of Science:
- Gastroenterology
- Molecular Biology
- Pediatric Nutrition
Background:
- Adults efficiently absorb nutrients from hydrolyzed dietary nucleic acids.
- Infant ability to hydrolyze nucleic acids early in life is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the capacity of infant intestinal explants to hydrolyze ribonucleic acid (RNA).
- To assess the potential contribution of breast milk RNA to infant nutrition.
Main Methods:
- Jejunal explants from weaning piglets were exposed to purified RNA at various concentrations.
- Ribonucleoside content in the medium was measured over 6 hours using high-performance liquid chromatography.
Main Results:
- A significant increase in free ribonucleosides was observed, indicating RNA hydrolysis by intestinal explants.
- The rate of increase varied among different ribonucleosides, with inosine and adenosine showing distinct patterns.
Conclusions:
- Intestinal epithelial cells possess the capability to hydrolyze RNA.
- RNA in human milk likely provides a source of nucleosides for breast-fed infants.
- Current infant formula nucleotide supplementation strategies may need revision considering RNA's contribution.
Background:
Healthy human adults are able to hydrolyze dietary nucleic acids and nucleotides in the gastrointestinal tract, thus facilitating absorption of the resulting nucleosides. However, little is directly known of the ability of infants to hydrolyze nucleic acids early in life.
Methods:
Purified RNA (50, 100, 250, and 500 mg/L) in a suitable medium was exposed to jejunal explants of weaning piglets to determine if enzymes expressed by the explants were sufficient to hydrolyze the nucleic acid. Aliquots from the media were taken at time intervals, from 0 to 6 hours, and assayed for ribonucleoside content by high-performance liquid chromatography.
Results:
The investigators found a significant increase of free ribonucleosides during the study period and for all RNA concentrations tested, thus suggesting that intestinal explants are able to hydrolyze RNA. The kinetics of nucleoside concentrations varied for each nucleoside. For example, inosine increased over the entire 6-hour period and adenosine increased for the first 2 hours, decreasing afterward.
Conclusions:
It is concluded that cells from the intestinal epithelium are capable of hydrolyzing RNA. These results suggest that RNA present in human milk is hydrolyzed in the intestinal tract of the breast-fed infant, thus providing an additional source of nucleosides. The results indicate that current supplementation of infant formulas with nucleotides should be reconsidered to take into account the contribution of RNA present in human milk to the pool of bioavailable nucleotides.