Emerging Nanotechnologies and Microbiome Engineering for the Treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is characterized by the chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract and impacts almost 7 million people across the globe. Current therapeutics are effective in treating the symptoms, but they often do not address the root cause or selectively target areas of inflammation. Notably, self-assembled nanoparticles show great promise as drug delivery systems for the treatment of IBD. Nanoparticles can be designed to survive the harsh gastric conditions and reach inflamed areas of the gastrointestinal tract. Oral drug delivery with nanoparticles can localize drugs to the impacted inflamed region using active and/or passive targeting and promote a high rate of drug dispersion in local tissues, thus reducing potential off-target toxicities. Since a dysregulated gut microbiome is implicated in the development and progression of IBD, it is also important to develop nanoparticles and biomaterials that can restore symbiotic microbes while reducing the proliferation of harmful microbes. In this review, we highlight recent advances in self-assembled nanosystems designed for addressing inflammation and dysregulated gut microbiomes as potential treatments for IBD. Nanoparticles have a promising future in improving the delivery of current therapeutics, increasing patient compliance by providing an oral method of medication, and reducing side effects. However, remaining challenges include scale-up synthesis of nanoparticles, potential side effects, and financial obstacles of clinical trials. It would be in the patients' best interest to continue research on nanoparticles in the pursuit of more effective therapeutics for the treatment of IBD.

Automated summary

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammation that affects almost 7 million people worldwide. Current treatments are effective in managing symptoms, but fail to target the root cause. Self-assembled nanoparticles have shown great potential as drug delivery systems for treating IBD by surviving harsh gastric conditions and reaching inflamed areas of the gastrointestinal tract. These nanoparticles can localize drugs to the affected regions, reduce off-target toxicities, and restore symbiotic microbes while reducing harmful ones. However, challenges such as scale-up synthesis, potential side effects, and financial obstacles in clinical trials need to be addressed. Research on nanoparticles is crucial for the development of more effective therapeutics for IBD.