Teratogenic potential of nanoencapsulated vitamin A evaluated on an alternative model organism, the tunicate Ciona intestinalis

Abstract

Nano-encapsulation is a technology used to pack substances in order to enhance their stability and bioavailability, but this packing may interact with living systems, causing unexpected toxicity. Vitamin A (vit A) is a substance that has received attention, because in developed countries, the increasing availability of supplements is leading to its excessive intake. This study aims to compare teratogenic effects caused by exposure to the traditional formulation of vit A versus nano-encapsulated vit A. We used ascidian embryos as an alternative model. Ascidians are marine organisms closely related to vertebrates that share with them a body plan and developmental programme, including the morphogenetic role of retinoic acid (RA). Our data showed that the adverse effects of exposure to the same concentration of the two formulations were different, suggesting that the nano-encapsulation increased the bioavailability of the molecule, which could be better absorbed and metabolised to RA, the effective teratogenic substance.

Keywords:

• Functional food
• retinol
• ascidian
• bioavailability

Acknowledgements

The authors want to thank the people of “IBIS: imaging bioscience support” for the use of the confocal microscope.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest.