Abstract:To investigate the stability and anti-inflammatory activity of lycopene microcapsules in vitro and in vivo, in this study, lycopene microcapsules were prepared by using starch sodium octenylsuccinate and maltodextrin with arabic gum respectively as wall materials. The encapsulation efficiency, storage stability of lycopene microcapsules under different temperature conditions were evaluated. The anti-inflammatory activity and mechanism of lycopene microcapsules were evaluated by using LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells, BPH-1 cells in vitro and TPA induced ear swelling mice model in vivo. The encapsulation rate obtained by using starch sodium octenylsuccinate+arabic gum at the a mass ratio of 2∶1 was 85.43%, and the retention rate of lycopene was more than 50% at 45 ℃. In the range of 0.5-10.0 μg/mL, the inhibition rate of lycopene microcapsules on LPS-induced NO secretion ranged from 8.83% to 72.33%, with an IC50 of 3.76 μg/mL; and the inhibition rate of 10.0 μg/mL lycopene microcapsules on the proliferation of BPH-1 cells was as high as 52.17%, with IC50 8.33 μg/mL. Lycopene microcapsules inhibited TPA-induced ear swelling in mice by 38.45%, and also significantly inhibited the overexpression of TNF-α, IL-6, MDA, and ROS cytokines, and the anti-inflammatory effect was superior to that of lycopene oleoresin. In summary, lycopene microcapsules had improved stability and anti-inflammatory activity over lycopene oleoresin, and their mechanism of action was linking to the inhibition of the overexpression of TNF-α, IL-6, MDA, and ROS.