Like elite firefighters headed into the wilderness to combat an uncontrolled blaze, probiotic bacteria do a greater job quelling gut inflammation after they’re equipped with one of the best gear.

A latest study by researchers on the University of Wisconsin–Madison demonstrates just how much promise some well-equipped gut-friendly bacteria hold for improving treatments of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Led by Quanyin Hu, a biomedical engineer and professor within the UW–Madison School of Pharmacy, the research builds on technology the team had previously designed. That prior technology encases helpful bacteria inside a really thin protective shell to assist them survive an onslaught of stomach acids and competing microbes long enough to ascertain and multiply in the center of mice.

While the technology makes orally administered probiotics more practical, IBD is a posh disease that sometimes involves greater than gut microbial communities which might be out of whack.

IBD is an advanced disease, and you want to attack it at different angles.”

Quanyin Hu, biomedical engineer and professor within the UW–Madison School of Pharmacy

So, Hu and his colleagues devised specialized nanoparticles to neutralize molecules implicated in IBD. They’ve also discovered a way of attaching these nanoparticle “backpacks” to helpful bacteria after encasing them within the protective coating.

Combined with the probiotics themselves, these nanoparticle backpacks could significantly improve -; and simplify -; IBD treatments.

While the basis causes of IBD are complex and still being studied, one perpetrator involves the overproduction of molecules referred to as reactive oxygen species. These molecules are crucial for certain human body functions, but too a lot of them within the gut can fuel damaging inflammation along the liner of intestines.

Enter the nanoparticle backpacks. The tiny particles are part sulfide and part hyaluronic acid. The acid is powerfully anti-inflammatory, and the sulfide directly targets the reactive oxygen species.

Conducted in mice, Hu’s latest research shows that probiotic bacteria Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 encased in a protective shell and outfitted with the nanoparticle backpacks are significantly higher at relieving IBD symptoms than their counterparts without the extra gear. The findings were reported Nov. 11 within the journal Science Advances.

The researchers estimated the results of the treatments in two ways: by measuring changes in weight and changes within the colon length of mice with IBD that did and didn’t receive the treatment.

Like humans, mice with IBD commonly experience weight reduction and colon shortening because the disease progresses. Hu and his colleagues found that mice that received the total treatment experienced the smallest amount of weight reduction and far less colon shortening than their counterparts that received partial or no treatments.

Current treatment options rely on the stage and severity of disease, whereas Hu and his colleagues say they’ve sought a more holistic treatment that might be effective at any stage.

“That is probably the most exciting a part of this research for me,” says Hu. “We didn’t wish to goal a particular IBD stage. We wanted to pick crucial aspects that contribute to curing or treating the disease at whatever stage.”

Moreover, the treatment is run orally, which could make it a palatable alternative to other more invasive types of IBD treatment reminiscent of partial or complete remove of the colon.

While the outcomes are promising, it’s going to be a while before the treatments are tested in humans.

Next in Hu’s sights is testing whether the nanoparticle backpacks work well with other probiotic bacteria species and documenting whether the treatment has any unwelcome unintended effects. Simplifying the strategy of creating and attaching the nano-backpacks will even be crucial for making the treatments clinically feasible.

Source:

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Journal reference:

Liu, J., et al. (2022) Mucoadhesive probiotic backpacks with ROS nano-scavengers enhance the bacteriotherapy for inflammatory bowel diseases. Science Advances. doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abp8798.