Park Sohyeon, Jung Sungwon, Lee Geonhui, Lee Erin, Black Rodger, Hong Jinkee, Jeong Sangmoo
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA.
Institute for NanoBioTechnology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA.
Adv Healthc Mater. 2025 Apr;14(11):e2405219. doi: 10.1002/adhm.202405219. Epub 2025 Mar 19.
The gut microbiota plays an essential role in regulating overall physiology, including metabolism and neurological and immune functions. Therefore, their dysregulation is closely associated with metabolic disorders, such as obesity and diabetes, as well as other pathological conditions, including inflammatory bowel diseases, cancer, and neurological disorders. Probiotics are commonly used to maintain a healthy gut microbiome, but their oral delivery is inefficient mainly due to their poor stability in the harsh gastrointestinal (GI) environment. This work presents an innovative encapsulation strategy, inspired by the natural structure of an egg, for the effective oral delivery of probiotics, termed PIE (Probiotics-In-Egg). The PIE technology is based upon encapsulating probiotics with phosvitin and ovalbumin derived from egg yolk and egg white, respectively. PIE exhibits significantly enhanced survival and proliferation in a simulated GI tract, as well as the ability to neutralize harmful reactive oxygen species (ROS) and sustain in nutrient-depleted conditions. Moreover, when administered orally in mouse models, PIE demonstrates excellent bioavailability and enhanced colonization in the GI tract. This egg-inspired encapsulation technology has great potential as a practical and effective platform for oral delivery of probiotics, which can significantly help maintain a healthy gut microbiome.
肠道微生物群在调节整体生理机能方面发挥着重要作用，包括新陈代谢、神经和免疫功能。因此，它们的失调与代谢紊乱（如肥胖和糖尿病）以及其他病理状况（包括炎症性肠病、癌症和神经紊乱）密切相关。益生菌通常用于维持健康的肠道微生物群，但口服给药效率低下，主要是因为它们在恶劣的胃肠道（GI）环境中稳定性较差。这项工作提出了一种受鸡蛋天然结构启发的创新封装策略，用于益生菌的有效口服给药，称为PIE（鸡蛋中的益生菌）。PIE技术基于分别用源自蛋黄和蛋清的磷蛋白和卵清蛋白封装益生菌。PIE在模拟胃肠道中表现出显著增强的存活和增殖能力，以及中和有害活性氧（ROS）和在营养耗尽条件下维持的能力。此外，当在小鼠模型中口服给药时，PIE表现出优异的生物利用度，并增强了在胃肠道中的定殖。这种受鸡蛋启发的封装技术作为一种实用有效的益生菌口服给药平台具有巨大潜力，可显著有助于维持健康的肠道微生物群。
