Microencapsulation of new probiotic formulations for gastrointestinal delivery: in vitro study to assess viability and biological properties

Abstract

The paper describes the preparation of new probiotic formulations based on chitosan-coated alginate microcapsules containing three different probiotic strains, Lactobacillus plantarum PBS067, Lactobacillus rhamnosus PBS070, and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis PBS075 taken individually and as a mixture of them. The effects of microencapsulation on the viability of the strains in conditions simulating the gastrointestinal tract and under industrial processes conditions were studied. In addition, an evaluation of their probiotic properties was also investigated by in vitro tests on the human intestinal cell line HT-29 to explore the effect of microencapsulation on health beneficial effect of the considered strains. Non-encapsulated cells were completely destroyed when exposed to simulated gastric juice and other stress conditions, while encapsulated cells exhibited a significantly higher resistance to artificial intestinal juice and heat and osmotic treatment. Moreover, in this study, the effect of the various microencapsulated probiotic strain formulations was compared with analogous formulations also containing the β-glucan Pleuran. The microencapsulation effectively protected the selected bacteria, as single strain and as a mixture of the three strains in both the formulations with and without Pleuran, from simulating gastrointestinal tract and industrial process conditions in delivering the viable cells without any significant adverse effect on their functionalities. The comparative study of the immunomodulatory properties of each single strain and the mixture of the three strains revealed a synergistic effect of the probiotic mixture, but no appreciable difference between the two kinds of formulations could be detected, as the effect of Pleuran is covered by the higher potential of the probiotic strains.

Microencapsulation with alginate/CaCO3: A strategy for improved phage therapy

“…Among the many diverse biomaterials used for phage encapsulation are cellulose, liposomes, alginate, whey proteins, and gelatin, which have been applied using different techniques1213. Alginate is one of the most common biomaterials used in microencapsulation, including that of probiotics1415 and, as recently shown, bacteriophages. The latter was achieved using alginate either alone or in combination with other components, in which wet capsules ranging in size from 310 μm to almost 1 mm were obtained810161718.…”

PVP‐co‐DMAEMA as Novel Polymeric Coating Material for Probiotic Supplements Delivery

“…The polymer coating is added in the second step adjusting the procedure previously used for chitosan and briefly consisting of the immersion of the fresh alginate beads in a solution of PVP‐co‐DMAEMA followed by centrifugation. The microcapsules where characterized through fluorescent microscopy ( Figure ) and showed a dimension ranging from 100 to 200 µm.…”

“…We recently developed a probiotic formulation containing L. plantarum , encapsulated in alginate‐glucose core and chitosan coating microcapsule . The chitosan coat layer was used to protect alginate core in low gastric pH, while alginate‐glucose and calcium were used as matrix that entraps the probiotic because of the mild gelling conditions of this polymer.…”

Addressing the Antibiotic Resistance Problem with Probiotics: Reducing the Risk of Its Double-Edged Sword Effect

“…As the development of antibiotic resistance strains continues, the use of probiotics as a substitute for antibiotics is becoming more popular in both the medical field and livestock agriculture (Collins and Gibson, 1999; Collado et al, 2012; Muñoz-Atienza et al, 2013; D’Orazio et al, 2015; Téllez et al, 2015; Varankovich et al, 2015). Probiotic use is defined as the actual application of live beneficial microbes to obtain a desired outcome, may it be prevention of a diseased state or improvement in general health outcome observed in the host organism (Collins and Gibson, 1999).…”

“…In addition, it has also been demonstrated that maintaining what is considered “normal” microbiota for certain host microbial environments may prevent diseased conditions that are not necessarily of infectious etiology and may improve general health outcome (Franz et al, 2011; Nueno-Palop and Narbad, 2011; Wei et al, 2012; Téllez et al, 2015; Varankovich et al, 2015). As a result, probiotic use, defined as the application of actual live beneficial microbes, has been increasingly practiced for both human and veterinary applications (Tompkins et al, 2008; Vankerckhoven et al, 2008; Sanders et al, 2010; Xiao et al, 2010; Nueno-Palop and Narbad, 2011; Songisepp et al, 2012; Devi et al, 2015; D’Orazio et al, 2015; Fuochi et al, 2015; Senan et al, 2015; Varankovich et al, 2015). Among the modes of probiotic use, the consumption of probiotics through the gastrointestinal route may be considered the most common application in both human and veterinary uses.…”