Abstract
Oral administration of active pharmaceutical ingredients, nutraceuticals, enzymes or probiotics requires an appropriate delivery system for optimal bioactivity and absorption. The harsh conditions during the gastrointestinal transit can degrade the administered products, hampering their efficacy. Enteric or delayed-release pharmaceutical formulations may help overcome these issues. In a Simulator of Human Intestinal Microbial Ecosystem model (SHIME) and using caffeine as a marker for release kinetics and L. acidophilus survivability as an indicator for protection, we compared the performance of ten capsule configurations, single or DUOCAP® combinations. The function of L. acidophilus and its impact on the gut microbiota was further tested in three selected capsule types, combinations of DRcaps® capsule in DRcaps® capsule (DR-in-DR) and DRcaps® capsule in Vcaps® capsule (DR-in-VC) and single Vcaps® Plus capsule under colonic conditions. We found that under stomach and small intestine conditions, DR-in-DR and DR-in-VC led to the best performance both under fed and fasted conditions based on the slow caffeine release and the highest L. acidophilus survivability. The Vcaps® Plus capsule however, led to the quickest caffeine and probiotic release. When DR-in-DR, DR-in-VC and single Vcaps® Plus capsules were tested through the whole gastrointestinal tract, including under colonic conditions, caffeine release was found to be slower in capsules containing DRcaps® capsules compared to the single Vcaps® capsules. In addition, colonic survival of L. acidophilus was significantly increased under fasted conditions in DR-in-DR or DR-in-VC formulation compared to Vcaps® Plus capsule. To assess the impact of these formulations on the microbial function, acetate, butyrate and propionate as well as ammonia were measured. L. acidophilus released from DR-in-DR or DR-in-VC induced a significant increase in butyrate and a decrease in ammonia, suggesting a proliferation of butyrate-producing bacteria and reduction in ammonia-producing bacteria. These data suggest that L. acidophilus included in DR-in-DR or DR-in-VC reaching the colon is viable and functional, potentially contributing to changes in colonic microbiota composition and diversity.
Highlights
Oral route is the most preferred for active pharmaceutical in gredients, nutraceuticals or probiotic administration due to its conve nience, potential controlled release, and patient compliance (Sosnik, 2014; Homayun et al, 2019)
In a Simulator of Human Intestinal Microbial Ecosystem model (SHIME) and using caffeine as a marker for release kinetics and L. acidophilus survivability as an indicator for protection, we compared the performance of ten capsule configurations, single or DUOCAP® combinations
We found that under stomach and small intestine conditions, DR-in-DR and DR-in-VC led to the best performance both under fed and fasted conditions based on the slow caffeine release and the highest L. acidophilus survivability
Summary
Oral route is the most preferred for active pharmaceutical in gredients, nutraceuticals or probiotic administration due to its conve nience, potential controlled release, and patient compliance (Sosnik, 2014; Homayun et al, 2019). Despite these advantages, many challenges are associated with oral administration (Vinarov et al, 2021), such as specific patient populations, regional differences in the gastrointestinal tract, interaction with food, advanced and innovative formulations, and in vitro and in silico tools relevant for exploring product performance, including active pharmaceuticals or nutraceut icals and probiotics. Nutritional supplements, like flavonoids, caroten oids, hydroxycinnamoyl acid or vitamin C, can be highly degraded (80–91%) during gastrointestinal digestion, while bioactives like pro teins and peptides can be damaged by the action of pepsin and trypsin degradation, significantly reducing their activity (Bao et al, 2019)
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