Probiotic ‘backpack’ to treat inflammatory bowel disease

Like an elite firefighter heading into the wilds to fight an out-of-control fire, probiotic bacteria do a better job of calming intestinal inflammation when equipped with the best equipment.

A new study by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison shows how well-armed, gut-friendly bacteria can be expected to improve the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. indicates whether

guided by Hu Kuan YingA biomedical engineer and professor at the UW-Madison School of Pharmacy, the research builds on the technology the team had. previously designedThis prior art traps beneficial bacteria within a very thin protective shell to help them survive the onslaught of stomach acid and competing microbes long enough to establish and multiply in the gut of mice. .

Although this technology makes orally administered probiotics more effective, IBD is a complex disease that typically involves more than an abnormal gut microbial community.

“IBD is a complex disease that needs to be approached from multiple angles,” Hu said.

Fu and his colleagues therefore devised specialized nanoparticles that neutralize the molecules involved in IBD. They also figured out how to wrap these nanoparticle “backpacks” in a protective coating and then attach them to beneficial bacteria.

Combined with probiotics themselves, these nanoparticle backpacks could greatly improve and simplify IBD treatment.

The underlying causes of IBD are complex and still being researched, but one of them has to do with overproduction of molecules known as reactive oxygen species. These molecules are important for certain human functions, but too many of them in the gut can cause harmful inflammation along the intestinal lining.

Enter the nanoparticle backpack. The small particles are part sulfide and part hyaluronic acid. Acids have strong anti-inflammatory properties, and sulfides directly target reactive oxygen species.

Hu’s latest study, performed in mice, shows that probiotic bacteria Escherichia coli Encased in a protective shell and equipped with a nanoparticle backpack, the Nissle 1917 is significantly better at relieving IBD symptoms than its counterpart without additional gear. It was reported in Science Advances on the 11th.

Researchers estimated the effect of treatment in two ways. He is to measure changes in body weight and changes in colon length in IBD mice with and without treatment.

Similar to humans, mice with IBD commonly experience weight loss and colon shortening as the disease progresses. Hu and his colleagues found that mice that received full treatment lost the least amount of weight and had much less shortened colons than their counterparts that received partial or no treatment.

Current treatment options vary by stage and severity of the disease, but Fu and his colleagues say they are exploring more comprehensive treatments that may be effective at any stage. says.

“That’s the most exciting part of this research for me,” Fu says. “We didn’t want to target a specific stage of her IBD. We wanted to select the most important factors that contribute to healing or treatment of the disease at any stage.”

Additionally, because the treatment is administered orally, it may be a preferred alternative to other more invasive forms of IBD treatment, such as partial or complete removal of the colon.

The results are promising, but it will be some time before the treatment is tested in humans.

Hu’s next goal is to test whether the nanoparticle backpack works well with other probiotic bacterial species and document whether the treatment has unwanted side effects. Simplifying the process of creating and attaching nanobackpacks is also critical to making treatments clinically feasible.

reference: Liu J, Wang Y, Heelan WJ, Chen Y, Li Z, Hu Q. Mucoadhesive probiotic backpacks with ROS nanoscavengers enhance bacterial therapy in inflammatory bowel disease. scientific advantage2022;8(45):eabp8798.doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abp8798

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