Interactions of bile salts with a dietary fibre, methylcellulose, and impact on lipolysis

Methylcellulose (MC) has a demonstrated capacity to reduce fat absorption, hypothetically through bile salt (BS) activity inhibition. We investigated MC cholesterol-lowering mechanism, and compared the influence of two BS, sodium taurocholate (NaTC) and sodium taurodeoxycholate (NaTDC), which differ slightly by their architecture and exhibit contrasting functions during lipolysis. BS/MC bulk interactions were investigated by rheology, and BS behaviour at the MC/water interface studied with surface pressure and ellipsometry measurements. In vitro lipolysis studies were performed to evaluate the effect of BS on MC-stabilised emulsion droplets microstructure, with confocal microscopy, and free fatty acids release, with the pH-stat method. Our results demonstrate that BS structure dictates their interactions with MC, which, in turn, impact lipolysis. Compared to NaTC, NaTDC alters MC viscoelasticity more significantly, which may correlate with its weaker ability to promote lipolysis, and desorbs from the interface at lower concentrations, which may explain its higher propensity to destabilise emulsions

Thermodynamic Insights into the Binding of Mono- and Dicationic Imidazolium Surfactant Ionic Liquids with Methylcellulose in the Diluted Regime

Alkylimidazolium salts are an important class of ionic liquids (ILs) due to their self-assembly capacity when in solution and due to their potential applications in chemistry and materials science. Therefore, detailed knowledge of the physicochemical properties of this class of ILs and their mixtures with natural polymers is highly desired. This work describes the interactions between a homologous series of mono- (C_<i>n</i>MIMBr) and dicationic imidazolium (C_<i>n</i>(MIM)₂Br₂) ILs with cellulose ethers in aqueous medium. The effects of the alkyl chain length (<i>n</i> = 10, 12, 14, and 16), type, and concentration range of ILs (below and above their cmc) on the binding to methylcellulose (MC) were evaluated. The thermodynamic parameters showed that the interactions are favored by the increase of the IL hydrocarbon chain length, and that the binding of monocationic ILs to MC is driven by entropy. The monocationic ILs bind more effectively on the methoxyl group of MC when compared to dicationic ILs, and this outcome may be rationalized by considering the structural difference between the conventional (C_<i>n</i>MIMBr) and the bolaform (C_<i>n</i>(MIM)₂Br₂) surfactant ILs. The C₁₆MIMBr interacts more strongly with hydroxypropylcellulose when compared to methylcellulose, indicating that the strength of the interaction also depends on the hydrophobicity of the cellulose ethers. Our findings highlight that several parameters should be taken into account when designing new complex formulations