Researchers from Australia’s Curtin University s have developed tiny capsules that are able to effectively target the liver and pancreas reducing the inflammatory effects of Type 2 diabetes.
About the Initiative
According to a recent press release, the research explored whether the tiny capsules could target the inflammatory effects of diabetes in mouse models over a six month period.
These were developed using bio-nanotechnologies and filled with a combination of human-based bile acids and the lipid-lowering drug Probucol.
Dr Hani Al-Salami is the lead author from the Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute (CHIRI) and the School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences at Curtin University.
He explained that the tiny capsules were designed to preferentially target specific organs and enhance the delivery of the active agents, reducing potential damage to other parts of the body.
With the use of advanced and customisable bio-nanotechnologies, the team was able to generate tiny capsules that protected the active drugs during the digestive and absorptive process.
This allowed for enhanced uptake of bile acids and Probucol in the liver and pancreas, which are typically inflamed in diabetes.
They discovered that the nanoparticles containing bile acids and Probucol were effective in reducing high blood sugar levels and diabetes-associated inflammation in animal models with diabetes.
The research findings showed great promise for future diabetic treatments. However, further research was needed to test whether the treatment could also be effective in humans.
The study showed a promising link between the use of bio-nanotechnology and tissue-targeted delivery in diabetic models.
By using these advanced technologies, it may be possible to reduce the progression and severity of diabetes.
The research paper titled, ‘Bile acid bio-nanoencapsulation improved drug targeted-delivery and pharmacological effects via cellular flux: 6-months diabetes preclinical study,’ can be found online here.
It was published in the Nature journal, Scientific Reports.
Other Medical Technology Initiatives
Curtin’s innovation is just one of several medical technology initiatives around the globe. OpenGov Asia had reported on several others.
Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), for instance, has been a part of two medicinal discoveries in the treatment of cancer and eye diseases.
An advanced nanocarrier for delivering anti-cancer drugs in the desired manner has been developed by researchers from A*STAR’s Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN).
They created a compatible nanocarrier, which is derived from green tea catechins, for the anti-cancer drug for kidney cancer, Sunitinib (SU).
Moreover, the collaboration between researchers from the University of Florida (UF) College of Pharmacy, the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI) and A*STAR’s Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) is looking at ways of finding a drug which can treat retinal diseases.
A team of international scientists, which include a Professor from the New Zealand’s University of Auckland, had invented Artificial Neurons on Silicon Chips, which behave like the real thing.
The first-of-its-kind achievement gives enormous scope for medical devices to alleviate medical conditions such a neuronal degeneration, spinal cord injury and paralysis, and heart failure.
This opens up the possibility of curing conditions where neurons are not working properly, or have had their processes severed as in spinal cord injury, or have died.
Meanwhile, researchers from the Department of Chemistry at Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) have invented the world’s first multidimensional antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) system.
The new technology can provide information about drug-resistant pathogens present in patients, enabling doctors to accurately determine the effectiveness and appropriate dosage of antibiotics needed for effective treatment.
