Khaberni - In a step that could change the lives of millions of diabetics, researchers have succeeded in developing a promising method to convert insulin from daily injections to oral pills, after decades of scientific challenges.
According to a report published by ScienceDaily citing a study in the journal Molecular Pharmaceutics, a team from Kumamoto University in Japan managed to use a small peptide that helps insulin cross the intestinal wall and reach the bloodstream.
The historical problem was that the digestive system would destroy the insulin before it could be absorbed, and the intestines do not easily allow it to pass through. However, researchers developed a circular peptide known as "DNP", which acts as a biological carrier enabling insulin to overcome this barrier.
Two mechanisms to enhance absorption
The experiments showed two effective methods, the first relies on mixing insulin with the peptide, where this interaction contributed to reducing sugar levels to normal levels in animal models within a short time, maintaining stability with a single daily dose.
The second method depends on chemically linking the peptide to insulin, producing a compound capable of achieving similar results, which supports the idea that the peptide plays a direct role in transporting the drug through the intestines.
The results also revealed that the oral availability of insulin reached about 33 to 41% compared to injections, which is a relatively high percentage, as previous attempts required much larger doses to achieve the same effect.
The researchers believe that this progress could make oral insulin more feasible practically, not only for ease of use but also for the potential to develop long-acting formulations or to expand the technology to include other biological drugs.
Despite these promising results, the study is still in its preclinical stages, as it was conducted on animal models, which means that moving to human use requires more testing to ensure safety and effectiveness.
If successful, this technique could represent a radical transformation in the treatment of diabetes, by eliminating the burden of daily injections and improving the quality of life of patients.
