Probiotic-Enhanced Porous Bio-Hybrids with Inflammatory Targeting, ROS Scavenging, and Long-Term Drug Release for Ulcerative Colitis Treatment

Adv Sci (Weinh). 2025 Jun 27:e04802. doi: 10.1002/advs.202504802. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

Functional porous materials hold significant promise for biomedical applications owing to their high surface area and customizable pore architectures. However, the complex gastrointestinal environment poses considerable challenges for conventional nanomaterials in achieving targeted accumulation and controlled drug release. Herein, a kind of novel probiotic-enhanced porous bio-hybrids (E-xPAM@ASA) is designed via bio-hybridization of 5-aminosalicylic acid-loaded hairy microporous nanospheres (xPAM@ASA) with probiotic Escherichia coli Nissle 1917. Benefiting from the intrinsic inflammatory-targeting capability of EcN, the E-xPAM@ASA can accumulate in the inflammatory sites of the intestine. The unique porous architecture of xPAM@ASA not only facilitates high drug loading and long-term release but also provides abundant adsorption sites for effective reactive oxygen species scavenging. In a dextran sulfate sodium-induced ulcerative colitis murine model, E-xPAM@ASA demonstrate superior therapeutic outcomes, including mucosal repair, inflammation alleviation, and microbiota regulation. These findings highlight the potential of the multifunctional nanocomposite as a precise therapeutic platform for the treatment of intestinal inflammation.

Keywords: ROS scavenging; hyper‐cross‐linking polymers; inflammatory targeting; long‐term drug release; ulcerative colitis.