Insulin pills - on the horizon

A scientist from Taiwan discovered that a chemical substance found in the shells of crabs (shrimp) can transport the shrimp molecule without it being destroyed in the stomach

Diabetics must control their sugar levels, but their bodies do not produce insulin. The solutions were to take pills that force the pancreas to produce insulin with the rest of its strength, or prevent the liver from producing additional sugar, and of course the ultimate option is to inject the insulin directly so that it will be absorbed by the body and reach the bloodstream where it will ensure that the sugar is transferred to the cells of the body so that it does not remain at too high levels in the blood. The reason for this complication is that it was not possible to develop an insulin pill because this substance is destroyed in the stomach.

Now a team from Tsing Hua University in Taiwan has discovered the existence of nanoparticles in the shell of the shrimp that can protect the drug from destruction in the stomach. However, there is still a need to conduct experiments on the substance in rats and there is still a long way to use it in humans.

Medicines containing proteins, including insulin, cannot survive the acidity in the stomach, and the only alternative available today, also relatively new to injections, is the use of inhalers. The researchers from Taiwan have discovered a way to trap the drug in a kind of bubble that resists the acidity in the stomach and other digestive fluids, but will still be small enough to pass through the layer of cells in the walls of the small intestine and release its refreshment into the bloodstream.

They put the insulin into small pellets made of chitosan, a natural carbohydrate extracted from the shells of shrimps. This substance is attracted to the walls when it reaches the small intestine and this increases the chance that the pellets will be absorbed and transfer their contents to the right place. These pills were given to laboratory rats who were given drugs that make them mimic diabetes, to see if the new drug would lower blood sugar levels.

While rats that received pure insulin they said showed no change, those that received these nanoparticles filled with insulin showed a significant decrease and this means that the insulin entered their blood stream. The findings were published in the scientific journal Biomacromolecules.