Prebiotics and Postbiotics Synergistic Delivery Microcapsules from Microfluidics for Treating Colitis

• Main Authors: Huang, R. (Author), Lan, P. (Author), Wang, H. (Author), Wang, X. (Author), Yang, K. (Author), Zhao, Y. (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: John Wiley and Sons Inc 2022
• Subjects: colitis; Controlled drug delivery; Diseases; Electrosprays; Fatty acids; gut microbiota; Gut microbiota; Mammals; Metabolites; microcapsule; Microcapsules; microfluidics; Microfluidics; Microstructure; Oral administration; Oral delivery; Postbiotic; postbiotics; prebiotics; Prebiotics; Propionic acid; Protective effects; Resistant starch; Shorter chains; Targeted drug delivery
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher

 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. © 2022 The Authors. Advanced Science published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.