Biofilm-mediated oral delivery of probiotics

This chapter highlights innovative strategies for using microbial biofilms to deliver oral probiotics. Probiotics provide immense therapeutic benefits in modulating the gut and oral microbiota to promote health. Oral delivery is a preferred way of delivering probiotics because it is a safer, controllable, and economical mode of administration. The viability of oral probiotics can be compromised by enzymes, and the acidic conditions of the gastrointestinal tract during transit to the gut. However, this can be circumvented by encapsulating and protecting probiotics in a biofilm-produced exopolysaccharide matrix. This mode of delivery increases probiotic survival and enhances the availability of postbiotic substances at the mucosal gut surfaces after bacterial colonization. In this regard, encapsulating probiotics within biofilm matrix provides an attractive strategy. Experimental models have suggested that biofilm-mediated delivery systems significantly enhance the survival rate of probiotics compared to traditional approaches. The strategy increases the therapeutic effects of probiotics and provides ways for targeted and sustained delivery, optimizing health outcomes. This chapter explores the potential of using biofilm matrix generated by probiotic Bacillus for the encapsulation and oral delivery of probiotic cells.