Astaxanthin Vesicles Improve Alcoholic Liver Disease Through Oxidative Stress and NF-κB Inflammatory Pathway

Liver injury induced by alcoholic fatty liver disease (ALD) will eventually lead to the development of hepatocellular carcinoma. The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory functions of astaxanthin (AST) can prevent and alleviate liver injury. In this study, AST was embedded in fatty acid vesicles to determine the effects of astaxanthin vesicles (AST-FAV) on ALD. The results demonstrated that compared to free AST, AST-FAV improved liver fat accumulation and oxidative damage caused by excessive drinking, and inhibited the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines by regulating the TLRs/MyD88/NF-κB, TNF-α/TNFR/NF-κB, and NLRP3/NF-κB pathways. In summary, AST-FAV can exert its anti-inflammatory effect through antioxidation and multiple pathways to prevent liver injury. These findings not only highlight the potential of AST-FAV for application in functional foods or dietary supplements but also provide a theoretical basis for further exploration of its potential as a clinical intervention strategy for the prevention or adjunctive treatment of alcoholic liver disease in humans.