Crafting probiotics a self-polymerized smart outfit for effective ulcerative colitis treatment.

Probiotic therapy has recently emerged as a promising approach for ulcerative colitis (UC) treatment. However, oral probiotic therapy is often hindered by challenges such as inferior colonization at lesion sites, where elevated intestinal hydrogen sulfide (H2S) level exacerbates epithelial barrier disruption. Moreover, without adjunct drugs, probiotics alone struggle to mitigate oxidative stress and persistent inflammation effectively. To address these issues, an alkali-labile polymerized ferulic acid (pFA) outfit was developed through a self-polymerization strategy, designed to both shield probiotics and relieve intestinal symptoms. Zinc ions were further incorporated as an H2S scavenger, enhancing the probiotic colonization and promoting gut microbiota restoration. Thus, the synthesized probiotics (designated as Lac@FZ) notably ameliorated UC severity, including relieving inflammation, alleviating oxidative stress, and restoring intestinal barrier and microbiota. This study paves a novel way for designing a boosted probiotic therapeutic for UC treatments, while also inspiring the development of other polyphenol-based functional nanoplatforms via self-polymerization.