Anti-inflammatory effects of dietary β-Casein peptides and its peptide QEPVL in a DSS-induced inflammatory bowel disease mouse model

β-Casein (β-CN) can be a good source of bioactive peptides in milk. It has several beneficial bioactive components that have anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties. However, it is still unclear which peptides offer the strongest anti-inflammatory properties. The purpose of this research is to contrast the anti-inflammatory activity to alleviate inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) symptoms of β-CN hydrolyzed peptide (BP) and Gln-Glu-Pro-Val-Leu (QEPVL) peptide from β-CN (QP). Currently, we used a dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced inflammatory bowel disease mouse model to assess the anti-inflammatory activity of the dietary β-CN peptides and its peptide QEPVL. The results showed that BP and QP groups had anti-inflammatory effect on the recovery of mice with ulcerative colitis caused by DSS. Compared with the QP group, the BP group can better alleviate the pathological characteristics of mice and suppress the production of inflammatory cytokines and genes associated with the NLRP3/NF-κB signaling pathway. In addition, the BP group improved microbial biodiversity, especially for the level of intestinal microbiota, by enriching the abundance of Erysipelotrichaceae in Firmicutes. These results enhance our understanding of the differential anti-inflammatory effects between β-Casein peptides and its characteristic peptide QEPVL. And how they can alleviate intestinal inflammation by regulating intestinal microbiota.