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ARS Home » Plains Area » College Station, Texas » Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center » Food and Feed Safety Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #288304
Title: Ex vivo absorption of thymol and thymol-beta-D-glucopyranoside in piglet everted jejunal segments

Author
item PETRUJKIC, BRANKO - University Of Belgrade
item SEDEJ, IVANA - University Of Novi Sad
item Beier, Ross
item Anderson, Robin
item Harvey, Roger
item Epps, Sharon
item Stipanovic, Robert - Bob
item KRUEGER, NATHAN - Blinn College
item Nisbet, David

Submitted to: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/25/2013
Publication Date: 3/25/2013
Citation: Petrujkic, B.T., Sedej, I., Beier, R.C., Anderson, R.C., Harvey, R.B., Epps, S.V., Stipanovic, R.D., Krueger, N.A., Nisbet, D.J. 2013. Ex vivo absorption of thymol and thymol-beta-D-glucopyranoside in piglet everted jejunal segments. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 61:3757-3762.

Interpretive Summary: Food-producing animals can be reservoirs of Campylobacter, a leading bacterial cause of human foodborne illness. The natural product thymol can reduce the growth rate, survivability, and ammonia production of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli; however, it is known that thymol can readily be absorbed in the gut of the piglet. We have hypothesized that the glucose conjugate of thymol, thymol-ß-D-glucopyranoside, may be used to transport thymol to the lower gut. The work described here focused on evaluating the absorption of thymol and thymol-ß-D-glucopyranoside in the gut of piglets. We used piglet-everted jejunal intestinal segments to evaluate absorption. A modified and improved gas chromatography method was also developed to determine thymol. On a molar basis, 2.3 times as much thymol was absorbed than thymol-ß-D-glucopyranoside from 1 mM solutions, and 2.8 times as much thymol was absorbed than thymol-ß-D-glucopyranoside from 3 mM solutions. The overall results confirmed that thymol and, to a lesser extent, thymol-ß-D-glucopyranoside were absorbed in the small intestine.

Technical Abstract: Food-producing animals can be reservoirs of Campylobacter, a leading bacterial cause of human foodborne illness. The natural product thymol can reduce the growth rate, survivability, and ammonia production of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli. Thymol-ß-D-glucopyranoside may be used to transport thymol to the lower gut. The work described here focused on absorption of thymol and thymol-ß-D-glucopyranoside in everted jejunal intestinal segments. A modified and improved gas chromatography method was developed to determine thymol. From 1.0 and 3.0 mM thymol solutions, 44.0 and 134.9 mg/L of thymol, respectively, was absorbed in the piglet-everted jejunal intestinal segments. From 1.0 and 3.0 mM thymol-ß-D-glucopyranoside solutions, 39.0 mg/L and 99.1 mg/L thymol-ß-D-glucopyranoside, respectively, was absorbed in the piglet-everted jejunal intestinal segments. On a molar basis, 2.3 times as much thymol was absorbed than thymol-ß-D-glucopyranoside from 1 mM solutions, and 2.8 times as much thymol was absorbed than thymol-ß-D-glucopyranoside from 3 mM solutions.