Selenium nanoparticles combined with Calycosin treated sepsis through synergistic anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects

Sepsis is a heterogeneous disease with high morbidity and mortality due to the limited therapeutic. Calycosin (CA), one of the main active ingredients of Astragalus, can potentially treat sepsis, but its therapeutic effect is limited by low blood circulation concentration and poor bioavailability. To address this challenge, we have successfully prepared BSA@Se-CA nanocomposite system （BSC） through self-assembly loading calycosin (CA) onto BSA@Se nanoparticles (BS). Compared to CA, BSC enhances the scavenging of ROS more effectively than CA alone by enhancing the activity of glutathione peroxidase (GPX). Notably, BSC reducing the expression level of inflammatory factors (NO, IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α) in inflammatory macrophages by synergistically inhibit the NF-κB signaling pathway. Moreover, the in vitro experiments demonstrated that BSC can also effectively alleviate RAW264.7 cells and HUVEC cells damage caused by oxidative stress, which can maintain the normal cells physiological function. In vivo, BSC exhibit significantly improve the therapeutic effect of sepsis by intraperitoneal injection, such as increase the survival rate of sepsis mice, and alleviate normal organ damage. Thus, this study provides a new strategy for improving the utilization efficiency of natural products with poor treatment effect and provides a reference for improving the therapeutic effect of sepsis.