A novel naringenin-loaded plant protein nanocomplex accelerates corneal epithelial wound healing by remodeling the immune microenvironment.
Zhang Y, Zhou L, Zhu S, Sun Y, Wang H
Plant Derived Medicine
Two everyday plant foods — peas and citrus — are being turned into medicine, showing that the compounds in the fruits and vegetables you grow or buy at the market have untapped healing potential far beyond nutrition.
Naringenin is a natural flavonoid found in grapefruit and other citrus fruits, but it barely dissolves in water, making it hard to use as a medicine. Researchers solved this by wrapping it inside tiny particles made from pea protein, which made it dissolve 150 times better and safe to put directly in the eye. In mice with eye surface injuries, this plant-based treatment healed wounds nearly twice as fast as no treatment and also calmed the immune system's overreaction, helping the tissue repair itself more cleanly.
Key Findings
The pea protein–naringenin nanocomplex increased naringenin's water solubility approximately 150-fold compared to naringenin alone.
Corneal wound closure was accelerated by ~1.7-fold and nerve regeneration was promoted, restoring corneal sensitivity in a mouse model.
The treatment shifted immune cells (macrophages) toward an anti-inflammatory state, suppressing IL-6 and TNF-α while elevating the healing-promoting signal IL-10.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists combined naringenin — a natural compound found in citrus fruits — with pea protein to create a tiny particle that dramatically speeds up healing of eye surface wounds. The plant-based treatment reduced inflammation and helped nerves regrow in mice, pointing toward a new class of eye drops derived entirely from plants.
Abstract Preview
This study explores the feasibility of pea protein isolate (PPI) as a topical ocular carrier to deliver naringenin (NAR), and develops an aqueous, solvent-free plant protein-polyphenol nanocomplex ...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
Species Mentioned
Was this useful?
Sea buckthorn for future foods: bioactive mechanisms, synthetic biology, and ...
Sea buckthorn can be grown in your garden or on degraded land, and this research signals it could soon appear in health foods, supplements, and personalized ...
Pea is a pulse or fodder crop, but the word often refers to the seed or sometimes the pod of this flowering plant species. Peas are eaten as a vegetable.