Zhang Chenxi, Xu Yuxin, Wu Shuang, Zheng Weiyun, Song Shuang, Ai Chunqing
School of Food Science and Technology, National Engineering Research Center of Seafood, Dalian Polytechnic University, Dalian 116034, PR China.
School of Food Science and Technology, National Engineering Research Center of Seafood, Dalian Polytechnic University, Dalian 116034, PR China; National & Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for Marine Bioactive Polysaccharide Development and Application, Dalian Polytechnic University, Dalian 116034, PR China.
Int J Biol Macromol. 2022 Apr 30;205:396-409. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2022.02.057. Epub 2022 Feb 14.
Astaxanthin (Ax) with a strong antioxidant activity is beneficial to human health, but its application is limited by its highly unsaturated structure and poor water-solubility. Ax-enriched colon targeted alginate particles (Ax-Alg) was prepared by high-pressure spraying and ionic gelation, and most of particles was in the range of 0.5-3.2 μm in a diameter. The in vitro models showed that Ax-Alg can maintain the structural integrity in the different conditions (pH, heat and ion). In addition, Ax-Alg can well tolerate the conditions in the mouth, stomach and small intestine and reach the colon where Ax was released due to fermentation of gut microbiota. Mice experiment showed that Ax-Alg reduced dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis, involving weight loss, disease activity index, colonic mucosal integrity and inflammation, and oxidative damage. On the other hand, Ax-Alg regulated the gut microbiota composition and reduced the abundances of Bacteroidetes members that had positive correlation with ulcerative colitis. Ax-Alg had better effect on the treatment of ulcerative colitis than oil-in-water emulsion, which can be attributed to the synergistic effect of Ax and alginate. This study can be helpful for the application of colon-targeted delivery system in the foods and treatment of colon diseases.
虾青素（Ax）具有很强的抗氧化活性，对人体健康有益，但其应用受到其高度不饱和结构和较差水溶性的限制。通过高压喷雾和离子凝胶法制备了富含虾青素的结肠靶向海藻酸盐颗粒（Ax-Alg），大多数颗粒直径在0.5-3.2μm范围内。体外模型表明，Ax-Alg在不同条件（pH、热和离子）下能保持结构完整性。此外，Ax-Alg能很好地耐受口腔、胃和小肠中的条件，并到达结肠，在那里由于肠道微生物群的发酵而释放出虾青素。小鼠实验表明，Ax-Alg减轻了葡聚糖硫酸钠诱导的结肠炎，包括体重减轻、疾病活动指数、结肠黏膜完整性和炎症以及氧化损伤。另一方面，Ax-Alg调节了肠道微生物群组成，降低了与溃疡性结肠炎呈正相关的拟杆菌属成员的丰度。Ax-Alg对溃疡性结肠炎的治疗效果优于水包油乳液，这可归因于虾青素和海藻酸盐的协同作用。本研究有助于结肠靶向递送系统在食品和结肠疾病治疗中的应用。
