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Peptides DEDTQAMPFR (DR-10), MLGATSL (ML-7), SLSFASR (SR-7), and MSYSAGF (MF-7) derived from simulated gastrointestinal digestion of preserved egg white (SGD-PEW) exerted anti-inflammatory effects on Caco-2 cells. Here, we aimed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effects of these peptides derived from SGD-PEW in a mouse model of dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis. The results showed that DR-10, ML-7, SR-7 and MF-7 significantly ameliorated the clinical symptoms of DSS-induced mice colitis, such as weight loss, disease activity index (DAI), colon shortening, spleen hypertrophy and histological scores. Treatment with DR-10, ML-7, SR-7 and MF-7 also significantly inhibited the local secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-6 and markedly decreased the gene expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including TNF-α, IL-6, IL-17, IL-1β, IFN-γ and MCP-1, in DSS-induced mice colitis. Overall, MF-7 showed the best effect of alleviating DSS-induced colitis among the four peptides. These results suggested that MF-7, DR-10, ML-7 and SR-7 may be a potential promising candidate for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Proteins and bioactive peptides in avian egg white exert diverse biological activities. This study is designed to investigate the effect of protease hydrolysates from ovotransferrin (OVT) on bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs) maturation. The results show that OVT-derived pepsin hydrolysate effectively inhibits lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced BMDCs maturation by reducing the expression levels of MHC-II, CD83, CD86 and the production of TNF-α, IL-12p70, and RANTES, but increases the production of IL-10. In addition, OVT-derived pepsin hydrolysate impairs the ability of LPS-stimulated BMDCs to induce allogeneic T lymphocyte proliferation and decreases the production of IFN-γ by activated T cells. In contrast, OVT-derived trypsin hydrolysate induces DCs maturation in terms of increasing the expression levels of MHC-II and the costimulatory molecules CD83 and CD86 and the production of TNF-α, IL-12p70 and RANTES. Furthermore, OVT-derived trypsin hydrolysate improves the ability of LPS-stimulated DCs to induce allogeneic T lymphocyte activation. Blockage of LPS-induced p38 MAPK and JNK activation and inducing ERK activation contribute to the inhibitory effect of OVT-derived pepsin hydrolysate on DCs, whereas OVT-derived trypsin hydrolysate induces DCs maturation through JNK and ERK activation. These results indicate that OVT-derived protease hydrolysate have an immunomodulatory function and could be applied as a potential functional food ingredient to regulate body immunity by modulating DC maturation.