Micro/nanorobots for treating inflammatory bowel disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a significant global public health issue in which many therapies are applied in clinical practice. However, efficient drug delivery within the harsh environment of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract containing gastric acid, mucus, and the epithelial cell barrier is still an obstacle. In addition to the undesired delivery efficiency, most clinical drugs for IBD treatment lack the targeting capability to achieve favorable therapeutic efficacy. Therefore, more efficient drug delivery strategies are urgently required to maintain the current upward trend in the treatment of IBD and further improve the therapeutic outcomes of IBD patients. With advances in the development of drug carriers, recent studies have developed traditional drug delivery strategies that use platforms such as hydrogels, living organisms, and nanoparticles. However, these strategies fail to achieve satisfactory delivery efficiency in the GI tract or the required self-propulsion, resulting in reduced drug delivery efficiency. Micro/nanorobots have been identified as ideal carriers to protect drugs from harsh environments within organisms and to realize targeted drug delivery toward inflamed sites. Therefore, the integration of micro/nanorobots into the treatment strategies for IBD is prudent. In this review, the current status of the use of micro/nanorobots in IBD therapy is described, and the challenges associated with their application in IBD-related clinical practice are discussed. This review will hopefully provide valuable insights for further studies on the use of micro/nanorobots in IBD therapy.