Precise oral delivery systems for probiotics: A review

Probiotics have several health benefits to the host. However, low pH in the stomach, various digestive enzymes and bile salts in the intestine threaten their viability and function. Thus, probiotics need to be protected during gastric transit to address challenges associated with low viability and impaired function. At present, probiotic delivery systems with different trigger mechanisms have been constructed to successfully introduce numerous high-viability probiotics to the intestine. On this basis, the application of non-targeted/targeted probiotic de-livery systems in different gut microenvironment and the adjuvant therapeutic effect of probiotic delivery sys-tems on other disease were discussed in detail. It is important to also note that most of the current studies in this area focused on non-targeted probiotic delivery systems. Moreover, changes in intestinal microenvironment under disease state and discontinuous distribution of disease site limit their development. Thus, emphasis were made on the optimization of non-targeted probiotic delivery systems and the necessity of designing more pre-cisely targeted ones.

Automated summary

Probiotics have numerous health benefits to the host but their viability and function are threatened by low pH, digestive enzymes, and bile salts in the stomach and intestine. Researchers have developed probiotic delivery systems with different trigger mechanisms to successfully introduce high-viability probiotics to the intestine. While most studies have focused on non-targeted probiotic delivery systems, there is a need to optimize these systems and design more precisely targeted ones to address challenges associated with disease states and discontinuous distribution of disease sites in the intestinal microenvironment.