News Release

Polymer could allow oral delivery of insulin to diabetics

Peer-Reviewed Publication

American Chemical Society

CHICAGO, August 26 — A new material that could allow people with diabetes to take insulin by mouth was described today at the 222nd national meeting of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society.

This material — a polymer with a gel-like consistency — could offer an alternative to daily injections, says the study’s principal researcher, Aaron C. Foss, a graduate student at Purdue University. He carried out his research under the guidance of Nicholas A. Peppas, Sc.D., a professor of chemical and biomedical engineering at the university.

The research group is using a polymer matrix that protects the insulin until it reaches the small intestine — where it can be absorbed into the blood — without being destroyed along the way by harsh acids in the mouth, throat and stomach. Other attempts to deliver insulin by mouth have resulted in minimal amounts of the insulin making it to the blood. Peppas says his group’s system “can potentially overcome these barriers.”

The less acidic environment of the small intestine allows the polymer to swell and release the insulin, explains Foss. Moreover, the polymer intercepts calcium, which the wall of the small intestine needs to keep the pores in the walls tightly sealed. Once the pores open up, the insulin can slip through to the bloodstream.

People with some types of diabetes either lack insulin or produce insulin that doesn’t work efficiently enough to control their blood sugar. Some of these people must give themselves three injections a day to control their diabetes. Because the injections are painful, however, people who feel well will sometimes skip their shots.

To avoid the stress of needles, some researchers are working on insulin that can be delivered to the blood through the lungs using something akin to an inhaler. But the effectiveness of this approach remains unclear.

Preliminary results of the Purdue polymer material on roughly 150 rats and dogs show that up to 16 percent of the insulin delivered makes it to the bloodstream. “This is a major improvement over the 0.01 percent bioavailability, or active insulin, that was being reported until now,” says Peppas.

Foss says he plans to make sure the polymer works by testing on more animals and then seeking approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin testing on humans.

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The paper on this research, POLY 44, will be presented at 1:30 p.m., Sunday, August 26, at McCormick Place South, Room S102B/C, Level 1, during the symposium, “Tailored Synthetic Polymers as Biomaterials."

Aaron C. Foss is a graduate student at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind.

Nicholas A. Peppas, Sc.D., is a professor of chemical and biomedical engineering at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind.

— by Linda Wang

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