An insulin patch that sticks inside a person's cheek

Date:
February 3, 2022
Source:
American Chemical Society
Summary:
Managing blood sugar levels requires round-the-clock attention
for people diagnosed with diabetes. A more healthful diet and
increased physical activity can help, but many with the condition
also need to take regular shots of insulin -- the primary hormone
that regulates sugar. To deliver this drug in a less invasive
way, researchers now report a prototype insulin-loaded patch that
comfortably sticks to the inside of a person's cheek.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Managing blood sugar levels requires round-the-clock attention for
people diagnosed with diabetes. A more healthful diet and increased
physical activity can help, but many with the condition also need to
take regular shots of insulin -- the primary hormone that regulates
sugar. To deliver this drug in a less invasive way, researchers in ACS
Applied Bio Materials now report a prototype insulin-loaded patch that comfortably sticks to the inside of a person's cheek.


========================================================================== According to the American Diabetes Association, approximately 6 million Americans use insulin to help control their diabetes, either because
their bodies don't make the hormone (Type 1) or don't respond well to
what they do make (Type 2). People primarily take insulin by injecting themselves with pens or syringes, or they have semi-permanent pumps
implanted. These methods are invasive and uncomfortable, and they require
safe needle or biohazard disposal and sterile conditions. Researchers
have explored other ways to deliver insulin through the skin, such as
gel-like lotions. But the skin is too good of a barrier, and drugs move
into the body slowly. In contrast, the membrane lining the inside of the
mouth is very thin, about one quarter the thickness of skin, making it
a potential place for drugs to easily enter the bloodstream. So, Sabine Szunerits and colleagues wanted to see if a material they had previously developed -- a polymer fiber mat that is activated by heat to release
drugs - - could attach to the cheek's lining and deliver insulin.

The researchers first soaked small squares of a nanofiber mat, made from electrospun fibers of poly(acrylic acid), b-cyclodextrin and reduced
graphene oxide, in a solution with insulin for three hours. Then the team applied the insulin-loaded patches onto cheek linings and corneas from
pigs. Heating the material with a near-infrared laser for 10 minutes
to 122F activated the material and released insulin into the two types
of membranes several times faster than through skin. In addition,
the researchers placed the patches in vivo inside the cheeks of three insulin-dependent pigs. The cheek linings showed no irritation or visual changes from the laser's heat. As soon as the material was activated, the
pigs' blood sugar levels declined. Simultaneously, the animals' plasma
insulin levels increased, which the researchers say is proof-of-concept
that this preliminary platform is efficient at getting insulin into the bloodstream. Finally, six human volunteers placed a placebo version of
the patch inside their cheeks, saying that it felt comfortable over
a two-hour period. The researchers say their next step is to conduct
further preclinical studies of the prototype on animal models.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by American_Chemical_Society. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Anna Voronova, Cristina Prieto, Maria Pardo-Figuerez, Jose Maria
Lagaron,
Amitav Sanyal, Bilal Demir, Thomas Hubert, Valerie Plaisance,
Valerie Pawlowski, Se'verine Vignoud-Despond, Alexandre Barras, Amar
Abderrahmani, Rabah Boukherroub, Sabine Szunerits. Photothermal
Activatable Mucoadhesive Fiber Mats for On-Demand Delivery of
Insulin via Buccal and Corneal Mucosa. ACS Applied Bio Materials,
2022; DOI: 10.1021/ acsabm.1c01161 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220203103035.htm

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