Type 1 diabetes is triggered when a person’s immune system attacks and destroys beta cells in the pancreas. These crucial cells are responsible for producing insulin, the hormone that converts glucose into energy, and as such, patients need insulin injections several times a day.
Taking an oral insulin pill would be a much simpler and less invasive routine, but unfortunately the insulin is destroyed in the stomach before it reaches the bloodstream.
Many scientists are experimenting with various methods to help her survive the journey, including protective coatings, microwave capsules that inject insulin directly through the stomach lining, and even nanoparticles that enter the bloodstream and then release insulin only when glucose is high.
It is made from ursodeoxycholic acid, a bile acid produced naturally in the body, which researchers have polymerized. This helps it bind better to receptors in the pancreas, improving metabolic functions and, most importantly, reducing even the inadequate immune cells that destroy beta cells in the first place.
„What excites me about this is that it’s a two-way approach. “, says Tarek Fahmy, the study’s lead author. “It facilitates normal metabolism as well as the correction of long-term immune defects. So, in fact, you cure the disease and at the same time maintain your insulin level. “
The team tested the nanoparticles on mice with type 1 diabetes and found that they worked to improve insulin levels, while bile acid nanoparticles reduced inflammation and restored metabolic function.
The team also found that insulin given through their oral capsules worked about seven times faster than that given by standard subcutaneous injection. It is important to note that similar results were observed in tests performed on pigs.
The results are quite promising, but of course more work will need to be done to investigate whether people could see the same benefits. The team says the nanoparticles could also be used to transport other molecules, helping to treat other diseases.
„The potential is huge for diabetes and other diseases as well. “, says Fahmy. “I hope that this technical development will be capitalized on in the development of urgent solutions to what are currently difficult challenges in autoimmunity, cancer, allergies and infections.
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