A core–shell multi-drug platform to improve gastrointestinal tract microbial health using 3D printing

Abstract

Improving the proliferation of probiotics (ca. Bifidobacterium) and inhibiting the growth of pathogenic bacteria (ca. Escherichia coli) is crucial for human health. This study demonstrates the fabrication of core–shell structure fibers using electrohydrodynamic 3D printing to help improve gastrointestinal tract microbial content. These fibers have various geometries and are capable of encapsulating stachyose into cellulose acetate (shell layer) and loading proteoglycan into polyacrylic resin II (core layer). The impact of membrane geometry on drug release behavior and the effect of exchanging the loading site on physicochemical properties of the resulting fibers were studied. The printed fibrous membranes possess a biphasic drug release profile in simulated intestinal fluid with a burst release within the first 12 h and a slower sustained release up to 72 h. The speed order priority for drug release rate of the printed membrane was whole-circle > semi-circle > square. Moreover, the membranes exhibit good biocompatibility on L929 cells and excellent improvement effects on Bifidobacterium bifidum, combining inhibition effects on Escherichia coli. In summary, the dual-drug fibrous membranes presented here and their precision-fabricated patterns pave a new direction for improving the gastrointestinal tract microbial ecosystem health in the human body.

Polysaccharide 3D Printing for Drug Delivery Applications

“…Electrohydrodynamic 3D printing is applied for the development of complex structures with accurately stacked and aligned fibers, using concentrated organic/polymer solutions. Through this technique, core shell structured fibrous membranes, loaded with stachyose and proteoglycan, were prepared by coaxial printing (Figure 8) [111]. Stachyose is a tetrasaccharide able to improve the proliferation of probiotics whereas proteoglycan is a protein that inhibits the growth of pathogenic bacteria on the human gastrointestinal tract.…”

High Precision 3D Printing for Micro to Nano Scale Biomedical and Electronic Devices

“…Three dimensional (3D) printing within the pharmaceutical sector is increasing in demand due to the possibility of developing patient specific drug delivery systems with controlled dosages and customized release profiles [177,178]. The cause for demand of personalized drug delivery systems is due to genetic variations in treatment responses, therefore by designing the drug/system the accompanied side effects of mass produced drugs can be alleviated to a lesser extent [18,179].…”

Advances and prospective applications of 3D food printing for health improvement and personalized nutrition

“…Some efforts have been made to improve gastrointestinal health by designing a core-shell multi-drug using 3DFP. Zhu et al (2020) evaluated the effectiveness of drug release and its improvement effects on Bifidobacterium and inhibitory effects on Escherichia coli in vitro in a 3D-printed membrane. The modulation of drug release (proteoglycan) was successfully controlled via the membrane geometry of a composite containing stachyose as prebiotic and excipient materials (cellulose acetate and polyacrylic resin II).…”