Utilization of albumin fraction from defatted rice bran to stabilize and deliver (-)-epigallocatechin gallate.

This work aims to use defatted rice bran albumin (RBA) for delivering epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg). The mode of RBA particle size shifted from 142 nm to 164 nm upon interaction with EGCg. Hydrophobic interaction is the major force between EGCg and RBA resulted in the formation of EGCg-RBA complex based on fluorescence quenching. Upon incorporation into RBA, the recovery of EGCg in pH 7.4 phosphate buffer was elevated by 2 folds. The recovery of EGCg in EGCg-RBA was 18.9% after 2 h intestinal digestion, being higher than 7.6% of native EGCg. The pretreatments of HT-29 cells with EGCg, RBA and EGCg-RBA significantly repressed the transcriptional activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase 14, nuclear transcription factor-κB, and activators of transcription 3 as stimulated with interleukin-1β afterwards, leading to attenuated expressions of corresponding downstream genes. Antioxidant ability importantly functioned in anti-inflammation. RBA is a promising vehicle with inherent anti-inflammatory property for stabilizing and delivering EGCg.