Preparation of procyanidins-SCP nanoparticles doped in hyaluronic acid-SCP hydrogel with intestinal sustained release to enhance the bioavailability of astaxanthin

Sea cucumber peptide (SCP) reacted with procyanidins and vanillin to form a food-grade nanoparticles (SPNs) via the Mannich reaction. After encapsulation astaxanthin (AXT), the SPNs was attached to a SCP-modified hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogel to construct AXT@SPNs/HS. The AXT@SPNs/HS exhibited an average size of approximately 1281 nm, while the AXT@SPNs had an average size of 510 nm. The loading capacity of AXT in AXT@SPNs and AXT@SPNs/HS were 6.81 ± 0.10 and 6.56 ± 0.19 μg/mg, respectively. Sustained release of AXT was found during AXT@SPNs/HS digestion and HA-SCP hydrogel provided a significant advantage in protecting AXT in acidic conditions. AXT@SPNs/HS could effectively target RAW264.7 macrophages and mitigated oxidative stress inflammatory response caused by alcohol. AXT@SPNs/HS alleviated acute alcoholic liver damage in mice model. The results illustrated AXT@SPNs/HS might become a candidate with intestinal sustained release to enhance its bioavailability.