Respiratory Delivery of GG by Vibrating-Mesh and Jet Nebulisation.

BACKGROUND

The use of probiotic bacteria to improve lung health has been gaining interest. Although the oral delivery of probiotics and their effects are well documented, there is currently limited knowledge on the respiratory delivery of probiotics.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to investigate whether nebulisation is suitable for delivering GG (LGG) into the lungs for the potential treatment of bacterial pulmonary infections.

METHODS

It compared the dose output and aerosol performance of a vibrating-mesh nebuliser (VMN) and a jet nebuliser (JN) in nebulising LGG suspended in de Man Rogosa Sharpe (MRS) broth, phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), or normal saline (0.9% / sodium chloride in water).

RESULTS

The VMN consistently produced a higher output than the JN for all liquid media, indicating that VMN was more efficient. The fine-particle fractions of both nebulisers were comparable for a given medium. The highest fine-particle fraction was achieved with LGG suspended in MRS broth for both nebulisers (20.5 ± 2.8% for VMN; 18.7 ± 3.4% for JN). This suggests that the aerosol performance of nebulised probiotics may depend on the medium in which the probiotic bacteria were suspended.

CONCLUSIONS

Therefore, this study demonstrated that the nebulisation efficiency of LGG depended on the nebuliser type and liquid medium of the probiotic suspension.