Oral Administration of Bioactive Nanoparticulates for Inflammatory Bowel Disease Therapy by Mitigating Oxidative Stress and Restoring Intestinal Microbiota Homeostasis

The management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) continues to pose significant challenges due to the absence of curative therapies and a high rate of recurrence. Therefore, it is imperative to explore novel approaches to enhance the efficacy of IBD therapy. Herein, a bioactive nanoparticulate s is tailored designed to achieve a “Pull-Push” approach for efficient and safe IBD treatment by integrating reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging (Pull) with anti-inflammatory agent delivery (Push) in the inflammatory microenvironment. The multifunctional nanomedicine, designated MON-PAMAM@SASP, is developed through the encapsulation of sulfasalazine (SASP), a widely utilized clinical drug for the treatment of IBD, within cationic diselenide-bridged mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles (MONs) that possess significant antioxidant properties. Herein, poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) endows the original MONs with positive charge characteristics. The MON-PAMAM@SASP not only displays the remarkable capability of neutralizing ROS to ameliorates intestinal damage, but also achieves controllable release of SASP to mitigate intestinal inflammation. Consequently, this nanomedicine effectively mitigates IBD by colitis in mouse models, and our current research has not identified any significant drug toxicity. Beyond regulating inflammatory microenvironment in intestine, treatment with MON-PAMAM@SASP results in increased richness and restores intestinal microbiota homeostasis, thereby mitigating IBD to a certain extent. Together, our work provides a highly versatile “Pull-Push” approach for IBD management and encourages the development of similar nanomedicine to treating multiple inflammatory diseases of gastrointestinal tract.