Probiotic-infused Mixed Polymeric Nanoparticles Co-incubated with Antibiotics: An Alternative Approach to Combat Drug-resistant Bacteria

The frequent rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is due to the increasing use of antibiotics in the healthcare system. Probiotics could offer a potential alternative, although their efficacy tends to be diminished in the presence of antibiotics, rendering co-fortification an impractical solution. Stand-alone probiotics cannot completely counteract the effects of antibiotics and often die off in the stomach due to the lower acidic pH. Similarly, antibiotics significantly reduce the action of probiotics; as a result, their therapeutic potential is diminished. Based on the biofilm protection characteristic, chitosan and alginate nanogel are used to encapsulate probiotics with temporary protection against antibiotics, enabling the simultaneous delivery of probiotics and antibiotics. This study involved encapsulation of the probiotic within chitosan-coated alginate nanoparticles (Cs-Alg+ProB NPs), which were made using the ionic gelation technique. The physicochemical characteristics, probiotic release profile across varying pH levels, swelling properties, coincubation of probiotics with antibiotics, and in vitro toxicity evaluation of the produced nanocomplex were examined. The hydrodynamic size of nanoparticles increased from 295.3±7.13 nm to 328.7±13.07 nm after probiotic encapsulation, confirming successful loading, as supported by zeta potential changes. Enhanced probiotic release and swelling were observed under acidic pH. The Korsmeyer-Peppas model indicated Fickian diffusion as the release mechanism. Coincubation with amoxicillin demonstrated that encapsulation protects probiotics, a finding that can be extended to provide therapeutic benefits against MDR bacteria to protect public health.