Introduction: The gut microbiota is a key player in systemic health, modulating immune responses, metabolic pathways, and neural communication by way of the gut–brain, gut–immune, and gut–metabolic axes. Synbiotics, a combination of probiotics and prebiotics, provide synergistic advantages in re-establishing microbial balance. Their therapeutic promise, however, is jeopardized by limitations such as poor survival of probiotics across the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, poor bioavailability, and non-specific release. Nanotechnology introduces a new way to address these barriers and allow for targeted and controlled delivery of bioactive compounds.
Methods: This study reviews recent advances in the exciting fields of nano-encapsulation and nano-carrier-mediated delivery of prebiotics and probiotics in the context of the newly coined word "synbiotics". The different types of nanocarriers have been designed to co-encapsulate prebiotics with probiotics, including polymeric nanoparticles (PLGAs), liposomes, nanogels, and solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs). This study involves mechanisms to mitigate protection against gastric degradation, reasons for delivery at sites based on intestinal pH or microbial enzymatic sites, and provides a means of promoting colonization. We also examine the roles of microbiome sequencing and artificial intelligence (AI) in the customization of any nano-synbiotic formulation.
Results: Nano-synbiotics exhibited enhanced stabillity in the gastrointestinal tract, intestinal target release, and SCFA production, which ultimately resulted in improved gut colonization and systemic effects. Preclinical and early clinical evidence supports their use in the context of metabolic disease (e.g. obesity, type 2 diabetes), neurodegenerative disease (via the gut–brain axis), and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Personalized treatments based on the host microbiome profile and AI-aided analytics further augment their therapeutic value.
Conclusions: Nano-synbiotics provides personalized therapy, allowing gut microbiota modulation for systemic and personalized health interventions. The convergence of nanotechnology and microbiomics opens the door to next-generation biotherapeutics for addressing complex chronic diseases via the gut–systemic axis.
