Probiotics-loaded microcapsules from gas-assisted microfluidics for inflammatory bowel disease treatment

• Published in: Macromolecular research Vol. 31; no. 8; pp. 817 - 825
• Main Authors: Yang, Xiaowei, Li, Cuihong, Yu, Hai, Tang, Jinping, Wu, Qinfang, Qu, Wenjuan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Seoul The Polymer Society of Korea 01-08-2023; Springer; Springer Nature B.V; 한국고분자학회
• Subjects: Alginates; Biocompatibility; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Coefficient of variation; Complex Fluids and Microfluidics; Health aspects; Inflammatory bowel disease; Microbiota (Symbiotic organisms); Microfluidics; Nanochemistry; Nanotechnology; Physical Chemistry; Polymer Sciences; Probiotics; Soft and Granular Matter; 고분자공학; Inflammatory bowel disease; Microcapsules; Probiotics; Natural polymers; Gas-assisted microfluidics
• ISSN: 1598-5032; 2092-7673
• DOI: 10.1007/s13233-023-00166-1

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a kind of chronic inflammatory disease that is difficult to cure completely and may cause cancer. Modulating the intestinal flora is believed to be a feasible approach for IBD treatment. However, the traditional probiotics delivery systems often suffer from the inactivation caused by gastric acid. Herein, we proposed a novel probiotics-loaded microcapsule generated from a gas-assisted microfluidic platform. The microcapsules were composed of alginate shells and probiotics-containing cores, and exhibited good sphericity and biocompatibility, and had an average size of about 325 μm and a coefficient of variation of 2.57%. When the probiotics-loaded microcapsules were used for the IBD treatment of mice, they displayed good therapeutic effects in modulating oxidative stress and inflammation as well as protecting the intestinal barrier. These features indicate that the prepared probiotics-loaded microcapsules could be used as new materials for IBD treatment.
Graphical abstract
The gas-assisted microfluidic platform was employed to construct probiotics-containing microcapsules for inflammatory bowel disease treatment.