Univ. of Texas researchers get $2.1 million for development of an alternative to daily injections

From the Houston Chronicle June 6, 2005

By PATRICK KURP

With the aid of a $2.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, a team of researchers at the University of Texas at Austin is developing analternative to daily insulin injections for diabetics.

The group, headed by Nicholas Peppas, a professor of chemical engineering, biomedical engineering and pharmaceutics, is creating an oral means of ingesting insulin, the protein that enables the body to metabolize and use glucose. People withType I diabetes inject insulin directly into their bloodstream.

Apart from the discomfort and inconvenience of the shots, some patients report a buildup of fatty deposits, bruises and scar tissue at the injection site.

"Diabetics are traditionally very compliant patients. If they don't take their insulin, they will get very sick very quickly. But they tell me it can still be uncomfortableto take their injections," Peppas said.

Insulin is a highly unstable substance, readily destroyed by the body, from the enzymes in the mouth and esophagus to acidic gastric juices in the stomach. Peppas and other researchers have already experimented unsuccessfully with insulin sprays and patches.

The NIH-funded work focuses not on insulin itself, but on its delivery system — a tablet or capsule made of polymers, a sort of customized plastic.

The device would be a porous polymer network, woven of methylacrylic acid and polyethylene glycol, to protect the insulin as it passed through the upper digestive tract.

The polymer, called a hydrogel for its water-carrying qualities, would swell once it reaches the basic (high pH) conditions inside the upper small intestine. The capsule or tablet would adhere to that site and the cells of the intestinal lining would absorb the insulin.

From there it would enter the bloodstream.

Studies by Peppas' collaborators in Japan and Philadelphia have found that at least 12.8 percent of the insulin in his polymer delivery system reaches the bloodstreams of test animals. With the NIH money, Peppas team will focus on extending the time the capsule adheres to the upper small intestine.

"We call this a material with a certain intelligence," Peppas said. "The tablet orcapsule must survive the trip through the stomach and must know where tofasten itself in the upper small intestine. We want to make it even smarterso it will stay there even longer."

Peppas expects orally administered insulin to be on the market within five to six years.

Healso expects his research to have implications for the oral treatment of other diseases, including multiple sclerosis and some forms of cancer.

"What we're trying to do is make very, very sophisticated materials that can outsmart the body itself and have a direct impact on the quality of life of our patients,"Peppas said.

For comments on the Health & Medicine page, contact raequel.roberts@chron.com.


RESOURCES

SIGNS OF DISEASE AND POSSIBLE HELP

Symptoms
Some signs include:
• Being very thirsty
• Urinating often
• Feeling very hungry or tired
• Losing weight without trying
• Having sores that heal slowly
• Having dry, itchy skin
• Losing the feeling or having tingling in your feet
• Having blurry eyesight

You may have had one or more of these signs before you found out you had diabetes. Or you may have had no signs at all. A blood test to check your glucose levels will show if you have pre-diabetes or diabetes.

For more information, contact:

• National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse
5 Information Way Bethesda, Md. 20892-3568
Phone: 800-860-8747 Fax: 703-738-4929 E-mail: ndic@info.niddk.nih.gov
Internet: http://www.diabetes.niddk.nih.gov

• National Diabetes Education Program
1Diabetes Way Bethesda, Md. 20814-9692
Phone: 800-438-5383 Fax: 703-738-4929 Internet: http://ndep.nih.gov

Source: National Institutes of Health