Potentiation of the antihypertensive activity of orally administered ovokinin, a vasorelaxing peptide derived from ovalbumin, by emulsification in egg phosphatidylcholine

Ovokinin, a vasorelaxing octapeptide derived from ovalbumin, significantly lowered the systolic blood pressure of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) when orally administered as an emulsion in 30% egg yolk at a dose of 25 mg/kg, this effect being larger than that of the peptide administered as a solution at a dose of 100 mg/kg, Egg phospholipid, especially phosphatidylcholine, showed essentially the same effect as egg yolk. However, egg neutral lipid was ineffective. Soybean phospholipid was less effective than egg phospholipid in potentiating the antihypertensive activity of ovokinin.