Prebiotics and Postbiotics Synergistic Delivery Microcapsules from Microfluidics for Treating Colitis

Abstract

Manipulation of gut microbiota by bacterial metabolites has shown protective effects against colitis; while the efficacy is strictly limited by the poor oral delivery efficiency and single drug usage. Here, a novel prebiotics and postbiotics synergistic delivery microcapsule composed of indole-3-propionic acid (IPA) postbiotic and three prebiotics including alginate sodium, resistant starch (RS), and chitosan via microfluidic electrospray for preventing and treating colitis are proposed. It is found that oral administration of IPA microcapsules (IPA@MC) to mice can exert significant protective effects to colitis, suggesting the therapeutic synergy between prebiotics and postbiotics. Furthermore, the mechanism of the IPA@MC is revealed in modulating the gut microbiota, that is by significantly increasing the overall richness and abundance of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) producing bacteria such as Faecalibacterium and Roseburia. These results indicate that the prebiotics and postbiotics synergistic delivery microcapsules are ideal candidates for treating colitis.

Bioinspired oral delivery devices

“…Polysaccharides participate in many biological activities, such as cytoskeleton formation, energy metabolism, blood glucose regulation and immunity modulation, are biocompatible and biodegradable, and can be easily extracted, processed and modified. Polysaccharides extracted from plants (for example, alginate 105,106 , cellulose 107 , starch 108 , carrageenan 109 , pectin 110 , guar gum 109 , mannan 111 , glucomannan 112 and inulin 113 ), animals (for example, chitosan 101,114 , hyaluronate 5 and chondroitin sulfate 115 ) and microbes (for example, pullulan 116 and β-glucan 117 ) are being explored for oral drug delivery. Polysaccharide nanoparticle formulations can orally deliver small molecules, oligonucleotides, peptides and proteins 94 .…”

“…In addition, polysaccharide microparticles can be fabricated through physically or chemically induced gelation 118 . For example, alginate hydrogel microspheres can be generated through ionic crosslinking of alginate with Ca 2+ ions using extrusion or emulsion techniques such as microfluidics; therapeutic agents can then be encapsulated during microparticle fabrication 106 . Alginate microspheres can provide resistance to acids and degradation at pH > 7, and thus protect drugs in the stomach and achieve targeted delivery; for example, silver-crosslinked, thiolated hyaluronan 5 or indole-3-propionic acid 106 have been orally delivered to the intestinal tract in a mouse model of colitis.…”

“…1c). Numerous digestive enzymes and varying pH constitute the major biochemical barrier, which can be overcome by selecting appropriate material constituents such as alginate and cellulose 5,106 . The mucous barrier, which consists of viscoelastic mucus that coats the digestive tract, not only restricts drug diffusion but can also trap or deactivate drug molecules.…”

Application of Biomedical Microspheres in Wound Healing

“…MES is traditional electrospray method, which consists of a single needle. Keli Yang et al prepared the alginate (Alg) and resistant starch (RS) microspheres by MES which could encapsule drug and be coated by CS [ 54 ] ( Figure 4 a–c). CES is formed by the outer needle as well as the inner needle.…”

Composition analysis and prebiotics properties of polysaccharides extracted from Lepista sordida submerged cultivation mycelium

“…Prebiotics are undigested or non-digestible food components that are degraded by the host’s intestinal flora to produce secondary metabolites that have positive effects on the host’s health, such as modulating immunity, improving the intestinal micro-ecosystem, promoting mineral absorption and regulating the body’s metabolism ( Keulers et al, 2022 ; Yang et al, 2022 ; Yilmaz et al, 2022 ). Prebiotics are mainly functional oligosaccharides, microalgae (Spirulina, plant extracts, soil extracts, etc.)…”