Octopus-derived antioxidant peptide protects against hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress in IEC-6 cells

This study aims to find antioxidant peptides from octopus protein hydrolyzates and verify the protective effects against H₂O₂-induced oxidative stress in IEC-6 cells. After the alcalase hydrolysate was ultrafiltrated, purified by Sephadex G-25 gel fractionation and semipreparative reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC), 16 peptides were identified, and chemically synthesized. In particular, the peptides AQNY, AMMLAW, FEGAW, GGAW, VDTVVCVW, and VVCLW showed better oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) and ABTS radical scavenging capacity. Among them, the smallest-molecular-weight peptide GGAW exhibited the best antioxidant activity. Furthermore, GGAW protected IEC-6 cells from H₂O₂-induced oxidative damage by significantly reducing the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde (MDA), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and increasing the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX), thereby improving cell viability. These results indicated that the peptide GGAW possessed the antioxidant capacity to prevent oxidative stress damage.