Engineering bioavailability: Polysaccharide-protein-lipid delivery platforms for postbiotic therapeutics in...

Postbiotics, inanimate microorganisms and their components that confer health benefits, represent a promising therapeutic class with superior stability and safety profiles compared to live probiotics. However, their clinical translation is hindered by a critical bioavailability paradox such as physiological barriers, compound-specific instability, and the need for precise spatiotemporal release limit their efficacy at target sites. This review provides the first systematic analysis of how advanced pharmaceutical and food-grade delivery platforms can be engineered to overcome these challenges and unlock the clinical potential of postbiotics across gastrointestinal, metabolic, autoimmune, and neurological disorders. We critically evaluate a spectrum of technologies including micro/nanoencapsulation, smart hydrogels, lipid-based nanocarriers, and fermented food matrices and establish a rational framework for matching these platforms to disease-specific pathophysiology and delivery goals. Our analysis demonstrates that targeted strategies, such as pH-sensitive nanoparticles for colonic delivery in inflammatory bowel disease or brain-targeted carriers for gut-brain axis disorders, are essential for effective intervention. Furthermore, we identify and discuss key translational hurdles, including scalable manufacturing, regulatory ambiguity, and economic viability, while forecasting future trends toward personalized, microbiome-responsive smart systems. We conclude that the therapeutic success of postbiotics is intrinsically tied to the efficiency of their delivery. Bridging the gap between their documented biological activity and the engineered platforms designed to ensure targeted, sustained release is the decisive next step in transforming postbiotics from compelling concepts into cornerstone therapeutics of precision medicine.