Extraction, Purification and Identification of Bovine Lung Peptides and Its Antioxidant Effects on H2O2-Induced HepG2 Cells and Mice with Alcoholic Liver Injury

TL;DR

This study extracts and identifies antioxidant peptides from bovine lungs, showing their potential to treat alcohol-induced liver damage in mice and human cells.

Contribution

A novel extraction method for bovine lung peptides and their antioxidant mechanisms in treating alcoholic liver disease are presented.

Findings

BLP-1 reduced oxidative stress in HepG2 cells by enhancing antioxidant enzyme activity.

BLP-1 ameliorated liver injury in mice by lowering transaminase and inflammatory markers.

Three peptides (GP9, FG6, WG6) showed strong binding to Keap1, suggesting antioxidant pathway modulation.

Abstract

In this study, we constructed an extraction process for bovine lung peptide-1 (BLP-1) derived from bovine lung tissue utilizing single-factor optimization combined with response surface methodology. We systematically analyzed its antioxidant activity, biological safety, and therapeutic mechanisms against alcoholic liver disease (ALD). In vitro experiments demonstrated that BLP-1 exhibits excellent scavenging activity against various free radicals, while exhibiting no significant cytotoxicity or hemolytic activity. In a model of H2O2-induced oxidative damage in HepG2 cells, BLP-1 significantly alleviated oxidative stress injury by upregulating the activities of intracellular antioxidant enzymes. Animal experiments further confirmed that BLP-1 significantly reduced serum levels of transaminase, inhibited the release of inflammatory factors, enhanced antioxidant enzyme activity, and ameliorated lipid peroxidation and pathological injury in ALD mice. By combining liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) with bioinformatics, we screened 12 novel antioxidant peptides. Among these, the binding energies of GP9, FG6, and WG6 to Keap1 were −10.2, −9.7, and −8.7 kcal/mol, respectively, indicating their potential to modulate the antioxidant defense system through competitive inhibition of Keap1-Nrf2 interactions. This study provides a novel approach for the high-value utilization of bovine lung and the treatment of ALD, as well as a new source for the extraction of natural antioxidant peptides.

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