Intestinal transport of methylmercury and inorganic mercury in various models of Caco-2 and HT29-MTX cells

The results show that incorporation of HT29-MTX reduces the permeability coefficient of Hg(II) and MeHg. This decrease coincides with an increase in cellular accumulation, since mercury is retained in the layer of mucus secreted by HT29-MTX cells [Hg(II): 40%; MeHg: 70%]. The presence of l-cysteine, bile salts and food matrix components increases the percentage of both species that is not absorbed. It is noteworthy that in all the conditions assayed the intracellular accumulation of mercury was very high (37-77%). This study shows the importance of the cell model and assay conditions for an in vitro evaluation of intestinal transport of mercury species.