{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,25]],"date-time":"2026-01-25T01:55:33Z","timestamp":1769306133760,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"24","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,17]],"date-time":"2020-12-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1608163200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Molecules"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Iron is a fundament micronutrient, whose homeostasis is strictly regulated. Iron deficiency anemia is among the most widespread nutritional deficiencies and its therapy, based on dietary supplement and drugs, may lead to severe side effects. With the aim of improving iron bioavailability while reducing iron oral therapy side effects, novel dietary supplements based on innovative technologies\u2014microencapsulation, liposomes, sucrosomes\u2014have been produced and marketed. In the present work, six iron dietary supplements for different therapeutic targets were compared in terms of bioaccessibility, bioavailability, and safety by using an integrated in vitro approach. For general-purpose iron supplements, ME + VitC (microencapsulated) showed a fast, burst intestinal iron absorption kinetic, which maintained iron bioavailability and ferritin expression constant over time. SS + VitC (sucrosomes), on the other side, showed a slower, time-dependent iron absorption and ferritin expression trend. ME + Folate (microencapsulated) showed a behavior similar to that of ME + VitC, albeit with a lower bioavailability. Among pediatric iron supplements, a time-dependent bioavailability increase was observed for LS (liposome), while PIC (polydextrose-iron complex) bioavailability is severely limited by its poor bioaccessibility. Finally, except for SS + VitC, no adverse effects on intestinal mucosa vitality and barrier integrity were observed. Considering obtained results and the different therapeutic targets, microencapsulation-based formulations are endowed with better performance compared to the other formulations. Furthermore, performances of microencapsulated products were obtained with a lower iron daily dose, limiting the potential onset of side effects.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules25245989","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,17]],"date-time":"2020-12-17T21:21:49Z","timestamp":1608240109000},"page":"5989","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Comparative Evaluation of Intestinal Absorption and Functional Value of Iron Dietary Supplements and Drug with Different Delivery Systems"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"25","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1448-0175","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Paolo","family":"Pastore","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 1, 35131 Padova, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1264-8878","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marco","family":"Roverso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 1, 35131 Padova, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3514-3004","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Erik","family":"Tedesco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"ECSIN\u2014European Center for the Sustainable Impact of Nanotechnology, ECAMRICERT SRL, Corso Stati Uniti 4, 35127 Padova, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4911-7755","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marta","family":"Micheletto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"ECSIN\u2014European Center for the Sustainable Impact of Nanotechnology, ECAMRICERT SRL, Corso Stati Uniti 4, 35127 Padova, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Etienne","family":"Mantovan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"ECSIN\u2014European Center for the Sustainable Impact of Nanotechnology, ECAMRICERT SRL, Corso Stati Uniti 4, 35127 Padova, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Michela","family":"Zanella","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"ECSIN\u2014European Center for the Sustainable Impact of Nanotechnology, ECAMRICERT SRL, Corso Stati Uniti 4, 35127 Padova, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6491-4715","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Federico","family":"Benetti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"ECSIN\u2014European Center for the Sustainable Impact of Nanotechnology, ECAMRICERT SRL, Corso Stati Uniti 4, 35127 Padova, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"24","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cell.2010.06.028","article-title":"Two to Tango: Regulation of Mammalian Iron Metabolism","volume":"142","author":"Hentze","year":"2010","journal-title":"Cell"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S2","DOI":"10.1046\/j.1523-1755.1999.055Suppl.69002.x","article-title":"Cellular iron metabolism","volume":"55","author":"Ponka","year":"1999","journal-title":"Kidney Int."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"907","DOI":"10.1007\/s00508-015-0842-3","article-title":"Iron metabolism and iron supplementation in cancer patients","volume":"127","author":"Ludwig","year":"2015","journal-title":"Wien. 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