Structured design colon-targeted nanoparticles with different distribution ratios of lecithin inside and outside starch helical cavity for enhancing GLP-1 secretion

This study presented a novel strategy to regulate postprandial glucose levels by engineering colon-targeted nanoparticles with tailored lecithin distribution for enhancing Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) secretion. GLP-1 plays a pivotal role in regulating postprandial glucose homeostasis. Firstly, type I starch-lecithin complex (OSL) was fabricated with excellent digestion resistance (47.89 % resistant starch) and self-assembly performance (0.58 mg/mL CMC). Lecithin solutions were then incorporated into OSL to form OSL/lecithin nanoparticles (180–200 nm, negatively charged surface) with different distribution ratios of lecithin inside and outside starch helical cavity. With distribution ratio of lecithin increased from 1:1.25 to 1:10, β-lactoglobulin colon release improved by 21.67 %. Microbial fermentation led OSL/Lecithin based nanoparticles to release β-lactoglobulin, lecithin, reducing sugars, and SCFAs, which collectively boosted GLP-1 secretion by 169.48 % and 36.07 % compared with β-lactoglobulin and mixed OSL/Lecithin, respectively. This research offered a new strategy for targeted delivery of bioactive molecules to modulate GLP-1 secretion.