Nanoparticle-Mediated Gut Microbiota Modulation in Obesity: Mechanistic Insights and Therapeutic Prospects
Nyiramana Mukamurera P.
Faculty of Medicine Kampala International University Uganda
ABSTRACT
Obesity is a chronic, relapsing metabolic disease in which the gut microbiota plays a central regulatory role. Dysbiosis, impaired barrier integrity and altered microbial metabolites contribute to increased energy harvest, low-grade inflammation, insulin resistance and disruption of gut–brain signaling. Conventional microbiotadirected strategies such as diet, probiotics, prebiotics, antibiotics and fecal microbiota transplantation have
shown promise but are limited by poor specificity, variable engraftment and limited spatial and temporal control within the gastrointestinal tract. Nanoparticle-based delivery systems provide new opportunities to precisely modulate microbial communities and their metabolic outputs by protecting labile cargos, targeting specific gut regions and responding to local physicochemical cues. This review summarizes current understanding of microbiota–obesity interactions and outlines how polymeric, lipid, inorganic and hybrid nanoparticles can be engineered for gastrointestinal targeting. We discuss mechanistic pathways through which nano-systems influence microbial ecology, epithelial barrier function and host metabolic signaling, including applications in probiotic, prebiotic, phage, nucleic-acid and engineered-microbe therapies. Finally, we examine safety, ecological and regulatory challenges, and highlight future directions for integrating nanoparticle-mediated microbiota
modulation into precision obesity management.
Keywords: Obesity; Gut microbiota; Nanoparticles; Gastrointestinal targeting; Metabolic regulation
CITE AS: Nyiramana Mukamurera P. (2026). Nanoparticle-Mediated Gut Microbiota Modulation in Obesity: Mechanistic Insights and Therapeutic Prospects. NEWPORT INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN MEDICAL SCIENCES. https://doi.org/10.59298/NIJRMS/2026/7.1.3947