The human gut microbiome is composed of trillions of microorganisms belonging to over a thousand identified species. Gut health — that is, balance in the microbiome — is important to overall health, and variations in the microbiome’s composition have been associated with several diseases including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
Working with collaborators at the University of Pennsylvania, Nicolas Alvarez, PhD, associate professor, and Thamires Lima, PhD, assistant research professor of chemical and biological engineering, are helping to fill gaps in understanding the complex relationships in these microbial communities. The Penn researchers have recently identified peptides that selectively target individual microbiome members to observe the results of disrupting them. However, the delivery of such peptides is challenging due to potential degradation by digestive enzymes.
The team at Drexel University is developing foam-drug delivery systems to overcome this hurdle. Unlike traditional flooding methods, foams have the advantage of covering a larger surface area of the tissue/organ with higher peptide concentrations.
“Many different types of foams are used in drug delivery,” Alvarez explained. “We are seeking to formulate the right kind of foam that is compatible with the peptides so that we can deliver them exactly where and when we want.”