Immobilised artificial membrane chromatography coupled with molecular probing: Mimetic system for studying lipid–calcium interactions in nutritional mixtures

Immobilised artificial membrane (IAM) chromatography was utilised to study the interactions of usual membrane probes with grafted phosphatidylcholine silica support, in relation to the presence of calcium ions introduced in the mobile phase as they are present in nutritional mixtures. IAM acts as a mimetic membrane of lipid emulsion globules, a major component of nutritional mixtures. The tested probes were 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH), 9-diethylamino-5H-benzo[α]phenoxazine-5-one or nile red (NR) and 2-(p-toluidinyl)naphtalene-6-sulfonate (TNS). For each probe, partition coefficients and thermodynamic parameters of transfer from the mobile phase to the IAM stationary phase have been measured. Our results suggested that the interactions of neutral probes (i.e. DPH and NR) with phosphatidylcholine are driven by hydrophobic forces. Addition of calcium chloride to the mobile phase slightly decreased the retention of these neutral probes and dramatically increased that of anionic TNS. Moreover, an enthalpy–entropy compensation study revealed that the mechanism of interaction between TNS and IAM is independent of the calcium concentration. Results argued for the existence of electrostatic repulsion forces exerted by IAM phase towards anionic TNS. Addition of calcium ions into the mobile phase led to the establishment of an ionic double layer at the zwitterionic stationary phase surface weakening the electrostatic barrier and increasing TNS retention. Consequently, it was demonstrated that IAM appears as a suitable model to get a better insight on the lipid–calcium interactions taking place in nutritional mixtures.