Development of hydrogel beads encapsulating iron and probiotic bacteria to ameliorate iron deficiency anemia and iron associated inflammation

Abstract

Nearly two billion people worldwide are affected by the most common nutritional deficiency disorder, iron deficiency anemia (IDA). Conventional iron supplements have mixed efficacies due to a large fraction (80-90%) of unabsorbed iron in the duodenum. This fraction moves to the colon and promotes the growth of harmful bacteria thus generating inflammation leading to gastric discomfort, diarrhea, constipation, etc. To overcome these barriers, synbiotic hydrogel beads encapsulating iron dextran and probiotics were prepared by using sodium alginate and starch matrix, and the cross-linking of polymers was performed by calcium chloride. The potential of hydrogel in improving iron status was assessed on Caco2 cell lines and in vivo on diet-induced iron-deficient C57/BL6 mice. Further serological and molecular parameters were studied to compare the difference between treated and untreated groups. The synbiotic hydrogel prepared in this work showed comparatively higher iron bioavailability in vitro and in vivo iron deficiency models. Sustained release of iron and bacteria from hydrogel at the target site promotes efficient uptake of iron by duodenal enterocytes. According to study findings in the animal model, the hydrogel formulation (B+I-Dex (H)) improves diet-induced iron deficiency by 31.61% efficiently compared to other iron supplements such as iron sulfate (~26%) or non-encapsulated iron dextran (1.57%) in mice model. Moreover, the formulation also generated a less inflammatory response in the animal model. The stability, higher biocompatibility, and synbiotic nature of the hydrogel for sustained release of iron at the primary site of iron absorption (duodenum) make it a suitable candidate for oral iron therapy during iron deficiency. newline