Green Fabrication of Ovalbumin Nanoparticles as Natural Polyphenol Carriers for Ulcerative Colitis Therapy

Nanoparticles (NPs) have the capacity to improve the bioactivity and bioavailability of anti-inflammatory drugs. Here, a green drug nanocarrier based on ovalbumin (OVA) was facilely produced via a self-assembling process by adding epigallo-catechin 3-gallate (EGCG) aqueous solution to OVA aqueous solution at 80 °C. The obtained EGCG-NPs had an average hydrodynamic diameter (around 202.9 nm), negative surface charge (approximately −13.2 mV), high EGCG encapsulation efficiency (98.1%), and reduction-responsive EGCG release capacity. Additionally, they possessed excellent biocompatibility and achieved a much higher cellular uptake rate of EGCG than pristine EGCG. Furthermore, EGCG-NPs had remarkably stronger capacity to suppress the secretion of pro-inflammatory mediators (e.g., tumor necrosis factor α, interleukin-6, interleukin-12) and promote the production of anti-inflammatory factor (interleukin-10), in comparison with pristine EGCG. Finally, in vivo experiments demonstrated the excellent therapeutic efficacy of EGCG-NPs in alleviating ulcerative colitis (UC). The present study collectively suggests that these facilely fabricated OVA-based NPs could be exploited as an efficient EGCG carrier for UC therapy.