Diabetes affects almost 350 million people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization, and that number is expected to continue to climb. Microneedle-array patches loaded with hypoxia-sensitive vesicles provide fast glucose-responsive insulin delivery. "Unfortunately, we’ve found that it’s hard to get people to change their eating habits". Such an invention may soon be on its way, thanks to biomaterials design experts at the University of North Carolina and North Carolina State University.
Funds from the NC TraCS Institute and the American Diabetes Association helped finance the research.
The study was published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The Mirror fails to mention that the study involved mice, rather than humans.
The researchers hope the smart insulin patch can be quickly developed to work with humans. When this patch was placed onto the skin, the microneedles penetrated the surface, tapping into the blood flowing through the capillaries. It could eventually be used to control blood sugar levels in people with diabetes who normally inject insulin, and potentially give better glucose control than the injections.
The patch has been tested on mice for the time being, but if successful in clinical trials, it might help diabetes patients completely change the way they monitor their conditions and how they administer insulin. They arranged more than one hundred of these microneedles on a thin silicon strip to create what looks like a little, painless version of a bed of nails. Each microneedle contains a reservoir of the artificial vesicles. Once the oxygen was depleted the hydrophobic NI molecules turned hydrophilic, causing the vesicle to fall apart and release insulin into the blood stream. This all happens rapidly, allowing the insulin to act swiftly to increase the uptake of glucose from the blood by cells. They also found that the patch did not pose the hazards that insulin injections do. "My patients are smarter than smart insulins, and they still can not match insulin to glucose with ideal timing". It is made from hyaluronic acid (HA), a natural ingredient used in many cosmetics, and the organic compound 2-nitroimidazole (NI).
Finally, they tested the patches on mice with chemically induced diabetes.
The researchers were able to make GRVs successfully. Within these needles are microscopic sacks of insulin and glucose-sensing enzymes.
The patch is armed with greater than 100 micro needles.
Some require insulin injections - sometimes many times a day - because their bodies produce tiny or no insulin, a hormone that’s needed to regulate the levels of sugar in the body.
The mice didn’t show any adverse reactions to the patches or the GRVs.
The patch is still in the development stage.
Gu’s team packaged insulin within nanoparticles containing an enzyme called glucose oxidase, which becomes active in the presence of high glucose levels. It will take years to work out whether this actually will work well in humans.
These tests reflect positively on the smart patch’s ability to regulate blood sugar levels in people. Beta cells also receive many other signals that indicate, for example, when a meal is coming, so that they can start releasing just the right amount of insulin before glucose has a chance to spike.
More research must be carried out before the band is safe for human use but studies are promising, scientists say.
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