Antihypertensive effects of whey protein hydrolysate involve reshaping the gut microbiome in spontaneously hypertension rats

Novel angiotensin-converting enzyme(ACE)inhibitory peptides were identified from whey protein hydrolysates(WPH)in vitro in our previous study and the antihypertensive abilities of WPH in vivo were further investigated in the current study.Results indicated that WPH significantly inhibited the development of high blood pressure and tissue injuries caused by hypertension.WPH inhibited ACE activity(20.81%,P<0.01),and reduced renin concentration(P<0.05),thereby reducing systolic blood pressure(SBP)(12.63%,P<0.05)in spontaneously hypertensive rats.The increased Akkermansia,Bacteroides,and Lactobacillus abundance promoted high short chain fatty acid content in feces after WPH intervention.These changes jointly contributed to low blood pressure.The heart weight and cardiomyocyte injuries(hypertrophy and degeneration)were alleviated by WPH.The proteomic results revealed that 19 protein expressions in the heart mainly associated with the wingless/integrated(Wnt)signaling pathway and Apelin signaling pathway were altered after WPH supplementation.Notably,WPH alleviated serum oxidative stress,indicated by the decreased malondialdehyde content(P<0.01),enhanced total antioxidant capacity(P<0.01)and superoxide dismutase activity(P<0.01).The current study suggests that WPH exhibit promising antihypertensive abilities in vivo and could be a potential alternative for antihypertensive dietary supplements.

Peptidomic analysis of whey protein hydrolysates and prediction of their antioxidant peptides

Enzymatic hydrolysis of proteins is a breakdown process of peptide bond in proteins,releasing some peptides with potential biological functions.Previous studies on enzymatic hydrolysis of whey proteins have not identified the complete peptide profiles after hydrolysis.In this study,we reconstructed a profile of peptides from whey hydrolysates with two enzymes and different processing conditions.We also developed an ensemble machine learning predictor to classify peptides obtained from whey hydrolysis.A total of 2572 peptides were identified over three process conditions with two enzymes in duplicate.499 peptides were classified and chosen as potential antioxidant peptides from whey proteins.The peptides classified as antioxidants in the hydrolysates had a proportion of 13.1%-24.5%regarding all peptides identified.These results facilitate the selection of promising peptides involved in the antioxidant properties during the enzymatic hydrolysis of whey proteins,aiding the discovery of novel antioxidant peptides.