Authors
Yu Zhou, Guannan Zhang, Qinying Shi, Jialing Liu, Ying Lu, Jianbo Song
Published in
Journal of biological engineering. Volume 20. Issue 1. Aug 01, 2026. Epub Aug 01, 2026.
Abstract
The human microbiome provides a robust ecosystem for mucosal barrier function, immune regulation, metabolism, and resistance to pathogen infection. Dysbiosis causes inflammatory bowel disease, oral inflammation, wound damage, skin disease, and cancer-related immune dysregulation. Current probiotic therapy is limited by low survival during storage and administration, low oral bioavailability, short retention time, and insufficient targeting. Probiotic-hydrogel systems combine viable microorganisms with natural or synthetic polymer networks to promote probiotic protection, local retention, and controlled release. They can also incorporate prebiotics, engineered bacteria, oxygen-releasing agents, antioxidants, growth factors, drugs, or advanced manufacturing techniques such as microfluidics and 3D printing. Recent preclinical studies suggest that probiotic-hydrogel can modulate local microbes, suppress pathogens, control inflammation, support barrier repair, and promote tissue regeneration. However, most evidence is far from clinical, and human data are limited to a small number of oral and periodontal applications. In this review, we summarize the design strategies, encapsulation approaches, mechanistic frameworks, disease-based evidence, and translational challenges of probiotic-hydrogel. In particular, we paid attention to evidence level, safety, manufacturing, regulatory classification, product stability, clinical trial design. Such issues need to be well understood before probiotic-hydrogel can move from experimental platforms to clinically applicable microbiome treatments.
PMID:
42958554
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 30 Oct 2026.
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