Advancements in the Pharmaceutical Applications of Probiotics: Dosage Forms and Formulation Technology

Figures & data

Table 1 Selected Examples of Probiotic Formulations

Probiotics*	Dosage Forms	Route	Reference
Enterococcus faecium	Oral film	Oral	[^Citation35]
Levilactobacillus brevis	Buccal film	Oral	[^Citation37]
Lacticaseibacillus casei	Powder	Oral	[^Citation42]
Lactobacillus acidophilus	Granule	Oral	[^Citation45]
Limosilactobacillus reuteri	Tablet	Oral	[^Citation30]
Lactiplantibacillus plantarum	Orodispersible tablet	Oral	[^Citation51]
Lactobacillus strains	Capsule	Oral	[^Citation48]
Lactiplantibacillus plantarum	Hydrogel	Oral	[^Citation56]
Streptococcus salivarius	Nasal spray	Nasal	[^Citation68]
Lacticaseibacillus casei	Nasal spray	Nasal	[^Citation71]
Lactobacillus	Microneedle	Transdermal	[^Citation82]
Lactobacillus subsp.	Tablet	Vaginal	[^Citation88]
Lactobacillus gasseri	In-situ gel	Vaginal	[^Citation90]
Lactobacillus acidophilus	Suppository	Vaginal	[^Citation101]
Limosilactobacillus reuteri	Enema	Rectal	[^Citation111]

Note: *Probiotics names presented in the cited references are updated with the recent taxonomic classification.

Figure 1 Fabrication of the dissolvable microneedle patches loaded with Lactobacillus: (A) Fabrication process and (B) Photographic and SEM images; Adapted with permission from Chen HJ, Lin DA, Liu F, et al. Transdermal delivery of living and biofunctional probiotics through dissolvable microneedle patches. ACS Applied Biomater. 2018;1(2):374–381. Copyright © 2018, American Chemical Society.⁸²

Table 2 Examples of Microencapsulation Approaches for Probiotic Formulations

Probiotics*	Methods	Encapsulating Materials	Reference
Lactiplantibacillus plantarum	Spray drying	Skim milk, whey protein isolates, trehalose, lactose	[^Citation116]
Limosilactobacillus reuteri	Fluidized bed drying	Shellac/sodium alginate, chitosan/arabic gum	[^Citation130]
Lactobacillus acidophilus	Extrusion	Alginate, chitosan	[^Citation134]
Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus	Emulsification	Concentrated sweet whey	[^Citation143]
Ligilactobacillus salivarius	Emulsification	Anhydrous milk fat, whey protein isolate, pectin	[^Citation144]
Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis/Lactobacillus acidophilus	Coacervation	Casein/pectin	[^Citation149]
Limosilactobacillus reuteri	Coacervation	Gelatin/sodium caseinate	[^Citation150]

Note: *Probiotics names presented in the cited references are updated with the recent taxonomic classification.

Figure 2 Complex coacervation method for encapsulation of probiotics.

Figure 3 Illustration of electrospun nanofibers containing probiotics. Figures were partly adapted with permission from López-Rubio A, Sanchez E, Sanz Y, Lagaron JM. Encapsulation of living bifidobacteria in ultrathin PVOH electrospun fibers. Biomacromolecules. 2009;10(10):2823–2829. Copyright © 2009, American Chemical Society.¹⁵⁴

Figure 4 Formulation approaches for the pharmaceutical applications of probiotics.

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