Decreased citrate improves iron availability from infant formula: Application of an in vitro digestion Caco-2 cell culture model

We have applied an in vitro digestion/Caco-2 cell culture model to the assessment of iron availability from human milk and a generic cow's milk-based infant formula. Experiments were designed to determine the availability of iron from human milk relative to infant formula and whether known promoters of iron absorption would increase Caco-2 cell iron uptake and availability from the infant formula. In addition, we sought to determine if decreasing the citrate concentration in the infant formula would increase the iron uptake. Although approximately twice as much iron was in solution from digests of the infant formula relative to that of human milk, smaller or equal amounts of iron were taken up from the infant formula relative to the human milk digest. These results are qualitatively similar to in vivo studies. Addition of known iron uptake promoters to infant formula did not enhance Caco-2 cell iron uptake from the infant formula digest, indicating that the iron in the infant formula existed predominantly in a tightly bound unavailable form(s). Enzymatic pretreatment of the infant formula with citrate lyase and oxalacetate decarboxylase decreased the citrate concentration by 67% and resulted in a 64% increase of iron in solution, which corresponded to a 46% increase in the cell iron uptake. Iron uptake from the "low citrate" formula plus cysteine was 102% greater relative to the nontreated formula. The results indicate that too much citrate can reduce iron uptake, particularly if it is present at concentrations greater than promoters such as ascorbic acid and cysteine.