A team in the pharmacy department of Jashore University of Science and Technology (JUST) is working on an oral nano capsule as an alternative to insulin injections for people with diabetes. The researchers say the technology has worked in the laboratory and shown positive results in mice; the next step is testing in people.
The problem is familiar. In type 1 diabetes the body cannot make insulin; in type 2 it does not make enough or cannot use it well, so many patients need injections. Doctors note that years of injections are uncomfortable and put some patients off treatment. And because insulin is a protein hormone, stomach acid and digestive enzymes break it down, which is why it is hard to give as an ordinary tablet or capsule.
Professor Dr Kishore Mazumder and his students have made a 'smart nano-carrier based oral insulin' capsule with a two-layer coating, a glucose-sensitive component, biocompatible polymers and a pH-sensitive co-polymer, designed to protect the insulin in the stomach and release it in the small intestine.
The researchers say the capsule will release more insulin when blood sugar rises and less, or none, when it falls, which is why they call it an 'artificial pancreas'. Professor Mazumder said its materials are non-toxic and biodegradable and that he has worked on the idea for 14 years. 'Many patients are reluctant to take insulin injections because of the pain; we have tried to find a pain-free solution,' he said.
He said human trials need government or private sponsorship, and that with it, and if all goes well, the team hopes to bring the capsule to market within two years. It is still at the animal-testing stage and has not been through clinical trials in people, so patients should continue the insulin their doctors prescribe.
Reporting: Sajibur Rahman, JUST, for Desh Rupantor
Photo: NASA/Marshall / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
Source: Desh Rupantor
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