Food allergies are triggered by abnormal immune responses to dietary allergens and can cause severe and even life-threatening reactions. Current treatment methods are still limited by their partial efficacy and long-term treatment duration. This article introduces a bio-hybrid formulation composed of membrane-derived nanoparticles from macrophages and the probiotic bacteria Nissle 1917 from Escherichia coli, for targeted multimodal oral treatment of food allergies. The nanoparticles are loaded with an enzyme that can degrade allergens and are covalently linked to the probiotics through click chemistry. This design enables the bio-hybrid to neutralize pro-inflammatory cytokines, degrade allergens, and enhance intestinal targeting and retention capabilities. In vitro, the formulation shows strong cytokine binding ability and effective allergen degradation ability. In mice models with casein and gluten-induced allergies, oral administration of this bio-hybrid drug can inhibit inflammatory cytokines, restore intestinal microbial diversity, and alleviate symptoms such as weight loss, diarrhea, and elevated immunoglobulin E levels. Histological analysis shows that the intestinal structure is preserved, and no systemic or gastrointestinal toxicity is observed, indicating good tolerance of the bio-hybrid system. This research was published in ACS Nano under the title "Cellular Nanoparticle-Probiotic Biohybrid for Multimodal Oral Therapy of Food Allergy".
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DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.5c18828