Scientists have created a novel method of delivering intelligent insulin to the body, offering millions of diabetics throughout the globe an alternative to insulin pumps or syringes.
Roughly 425 million individuals globally suffer from diabetes, and 75 million of them administer insulin shots on a daily basis.
According to the researchers at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, the novel insulin can be consumed by ingesting a capsule or, even better, within a piece of chocolate.
The team’s research, which was published in Nature Nanotechnology, showed that the smart tablet reduced blood sugar in 20 baboons when it was given to them.
Although the baboons were healthy and normal, mice and rats with diabetes have also been used to test the oral insulin.
The mice and rats overcame the problems now associated with injectables and other oral insulins, according to the researchers, by not experiencing hypoglycemia, gaining weight, or accumulating fat in the liver.
The insulin is enclosed in small nano-carriers found inside the pills. The particles are so tiny that even a standard microscope cannot see them—they are 1/10,000th the breadth of a human hair.
“This insulin delivery method is more accurate because it quickly gets the insulin to the parts of the body that need it most.” According to Professor Peter McCourt of UiT Norway’s Arctic University, “when you take insulin with a syringe, it is spread throughout the body where it can cause unwanted side effects.”
“We have created a coating to protect the insulin from being broken down by stomach acid and digestive enzymes on its way through the digestive system, keeping it safe until it reaches its destination, namely the liver,” said McCourt, a liver biologist.
Oral insulin has been tried on baboons at the National Baboon Colony in Australia, as well as on nematodes, mice, and rats.
Nicholas J. Hunt of the University of Sydney stated, “We incorporated the oral insulin into sugar-free chocolate; this approach was well received in order to make the oral insulin palatable.”
It is still necessary to test the pill on people. The researchers anticipate that human trials will begin in 2025 and that the new medication will be available for general use in two to three years.
