Anti-Inflammatory Properties, Bioaccessibility and Intestinal Absorption of Sea Fennel (Crithmum maritimum) Extract Encapsulated in Soy Phosphatidylcholine Liposomes.

Ailén Alemán,María del Carmen Gómez-Guillén,Daniel Marín-Peñalver,Pilar Montero,Pilar Fernández de Palencia

doi:10.3390/nu14010210

Ailén Alemán, María del Carmen Gómez-Guillén + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14010210

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Abstract

A sea fennel (Crithmum maritimum) aqueous extract was prepared and loaded into soybean phosphatidylcholine liposomes. Both the free extract (FE), and the empty (L) and loaded (L-FE) liposomes were shown to be non-cytotoxic to THP-1 and Caco-2 cells. The anti-inflammatory effect was tested on THP-1 cells differentiated into macrophages. FE showed anti-inflammatory activity, revealed by the induced secretion of IL-10 cytokines in macrophages that were subsequently stimulated with LPS. Also, a decrease in TNF-α production by L was observed, evidencing that liposomes reduced the pro-inflammatory mediators’ secretion. The liposomes (L) showed protective anti-inflammatory activity and also were able to downregulate the inflammation. Furthermore, L-FE were also found to downregulate the inflammation response, as they were able to decrease TNF-α secretion in macrophages previously exposed to LPS. The simulated in vitro gastrointestinal digestion (GID) of FE diminished the chlorogenic acid content (the main polyphenolic compound of the extract) by 40%, while in L-FE, the amount of this phenolic compound increased with respect to the undigested liposomes. The amount of bioaccessible chlorogenic, however, was similar for FE and L-FE. The percentage of chlorogenic acid absorbed through a Caco-2 cell monolayer after 3 h of incubation, was significantly similar for the extract and the liposomes (~1.5%), without finding significant differences once the extract and liposomes were digested.

Highlights

Crithmum maritimum, commonly named sea fennel, is an edible halophile plant that is very abundant on the Mediterranean and Atlantic seacoasts
It was observed that its main component was chlorogenic acid, which some studies have related to the antioxidant activity of sea fennel [1,2], as well as to other properties associated with disease prevention, such as anticarcinogenic and antimutagenic activities [2], there are still few studies on this regard
Cellular Viability the sea fennel aqueous extract (FE), the phosphatidylcholine liposomal dispersion. Cell viability of both THP-1 and Caco-2 cells evaluated after 18 h of incubation with the with sea fennel extractdispersion (L-FE), is(L), shown thecorresponding sea fennel aqueousliposomes extract (FE),loaded the phosphatidylcholine liposomal and in Fig

Summary

Introduction

Commonly named sea fennel, is an edible halophile plant that is very abundant on the Mediterranean and Atlantic seacoasts. Sea fennel is especially used in gourmet cuisine, or very locally, being an underutilized plant. Given the high amount of chlorogenic acid present in sea fennel [1,3], to which outstanding antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties have been attributed [4], sea fennel extract may have a beneficial effect on inflammation mediators. In this sense, several studies have shown how various polyphenols, including hydroxychinamic acids, increase the activation of the immune system response [5,6].

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