Enhanced Biofilm Formulation May Increase Protection Against NEC
Pathogenic microbes form fortress-like biofilms making them resistant to the immune system and current antimicrobials.
But what if biofilms could be used for good? Researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital are investigating how. They have designed a delivery system to treat premature infants with necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) that may have applications beyond the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
Researchers at Nationwide Children’s from Pediatric Surgery and the Center for Microbial Pathogenesis had already shown that that a formulation of Lactobacillus reuteri biofilm grown on microspheres protect against experimental NEC. A new iteration of the technology may help further reduce its incidence.
“NEC is a devastating problem for premature infants. Despite decades of research, 10% of infants born under 1500 grams will develop NEC, and mortality remains as high as 30% for these babies,” says Gail Besner, MD, chief of Pediatric Surgery at Nationwide Children’s.
The newest results, reported in American Journal of Physiology, shows a single dose L. reuteri biofilm microspheres enhanced with sucrose or maltose not only reduced the incidence of NEC in animals but also improved animal survival, reduced intestinal mucosal barrier breakdown and limited intestinal inflammation.
Microspheres loaded with maltose also augmented the persistence of numerous Lactobacillus species in the intestinal tract and shifted the gut microbiome to be more similar to that of breast-fed babies.
“Given the microbiome disruption observed in preterm infants who go on to develop NEC, a treatment that preserves the microbiome holds great promise as an intervention to prevent NEC,” says Dr. Besner, who is also a principal investigator in the Center for Perinatal Research at Nationwide Children’s. “Furthermore, our novel probiotic delivery system limits the expansion of pathogenic bacteria such as Enterobacter species, providing further evidence that it attenuates detrimental NEC-induced dysbiosis.”
“As we continue to learn more about the microbiome and its relationship to health and disease, probiotic administration may play an increasingly important role in disease prevention and management,” she adds.
Drs. Besner, Steve Goodman, PhD, Michael Bailey, PhD, and Lauren Bakaletz, PhD are the scientific founders of a preclinical stage company – Scioto Biosciences – created to bring microbiome therapeutics to the marketplace. They are currently in talks with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to design a clinical trial to test the delivery system in humans.
CITATION:
Olson JK, Navarro JB, Allen JM, McCulloh CJ, Mashburn-Warren L, Wang Y, Varaljay VA, Bailey MT, Goodman SD, Besner GE. An Enhanced Lactobacillus reuteri Biofilm Formulation that Increases Protection against Experimental Necrotizing Enterocolitis.
