Preparation of Lactoferrin-Curcumin Nanoparticles and Its Effect on Antifatigue Ability in Rats

In this experiment, nanoparticles were prepared with lactoferrin and curcumin and their structures were analyzed. The absorption characteristics of curcumin nanoparticles and curcumin monomers were compared by in vivo absorption experiments. Then, the anti-fatigue activity of curcumin nanoparticles was evaluated by measuring the duration of exhaustive swimming time, dynamic changes of blood lactic acid, muscle glycogen content, liver glycogen content, blood urea nitrogen content, antioxidant enzyme activity and lipid peroxidation products in Rats. The results showed that the particle size of curcumin nanoparticles was about 593.8 nm. The distribution of curcumin nanoparticles was uniform and the morphology was stable. It has good loading rate of (152.03 ± 2.43) mg/g and encapsulation efficiency rate of 63.57%± 0.74%. Compared with curcumin nanoparticles, the first pass effect of curcumin nanoparticles in vivo was reduced, and it could be maintained at a higher concentration for a longer time in plasma, indicating that lactoferrin carrier played a certain role in sustained-release. In the exercise-induced fatigue animal model, the synthesis of muscle glycogen and liver glycogen were promoted after feeding curcumin nanoparticles, and the duration of exhaustive swimming was significantly increased (P<0.05). The metabolic rate of blood lactic acid was greatly accelerated within 90 minutes after exercise. The index of decreased BUM, MDA and increased GSH-PX also showed an improved anti-fatigue activity by feeding curcumin nanoparticles which was positively correlated with the dose.