title: Microencapsulation with alginate/CaCO3: A strategy for improved phage therapy.
abstract: Bacteriophages are promising therapeutic agents that can be applied to different stages of the commercial food chain. In this sense, bacteriophages can be orally administered to farm animals to protect them against intestinal pathogens. However, the low pH of the stomach, the activities of bile and intestinal tract enzymes limit the efficacy of the phages. This study demonstrates the utility of an alginate/CaCO3encapsulation method suitable for bacteriophages with different morphologies and to yield encapsulation efficacies of ~100%. For the first time, a cocktail of three alginate/CaCO3-encapsulated bacteriophages was administered as oral therapy to commercial broilers infected with Salmonella under farm-like conditions. Encapsulation protects the bacteriophages against their destruction by the gastric juice. Phage release from capsules incubated in simulated intestinal fluid was also demonstrated, whereas encapsulation ensured sufficient intestinal retention of the phages. Moreover, the small size of the capsules (125-150 μm) enables their use in oral therapy and other applications in phage therapy. This study evidenced that a cocktail of the three alginate/CaCO3-encapsulated bacteriophages had a greater and more durable efficacy than a cocktail of the corresponding non-encapsulated phages in as therapy in broilers against Salmonella, one of the most common foodborne pathogen.
authors.affiliation: Departament de Genètica i Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Campus de Bellaterra, Bellaterra, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain.
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Colom
authors.affiliation: Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Campus UAB, Bellaterra, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain.
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cano-Sarabia
authors.affiliation: Departament de Genètica i Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Campus de Bellaterra, Bellaterra, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Otero
authors.affiliation: Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Campus UAB, Bellaterra, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Aríñez-Soriano
authors.affiliation: Departament de Genètica i Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Campus de Bellaterra, Bellaterra, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain.
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cortés
authors.affiliation: Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Campus UAB, Bellaterra, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain.|ICREA, Pg. Lluís Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Maspoch
authors.affiliation: Departament de Genètica i Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Campus de Bellaterra, Bellaterra, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain.
authors.forename: Montserrat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Llagostera
mesh_terms: D000464:Alginates / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D001826:Body Fluids / Q000737:chemistry; D002119:Calcium Carbonate / Q000737:chemistry*; D002432:Cecum / Q000821:virology; D002645:Chickens; D004339:Drug Compounding / Q000379:methods*; D020723:Glucuronic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D006603:Hexuronic Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D000071059:Phage Therapy; D012475:Salmonella / Q000502:physiology; D012481:Salmonella Infections, Animal
chemical_list: D000464:Alginates; D006603:Hexuronic Acids; D020723:Glucuronic Acid; D002119:Calcium Carbonate