Insulin in pills, an ancestral dream

2002/02/28 Carton Virto, Eider - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Medikuntza

In this regard, the Topitxev Institute of Petrochemical Synthesis of Russia has developed a new method of synthesis of pills that is already in the second phase of clinical sessions. It seems that the preliminary results have been very good and although they will pass several years before reaching the market, the effectiveness of the pill has not been questioned. According to researchers, the pill will not cure diabetes, but will replace daily injections. They say that with the pill before four meals a day, you can forget the injections.

How is the pill?

If you take insulin in pills, it is essential to overcome stomach and intestinal enzymes to get to the blood, as it is the main obstacle that have so far had insulin pills. According to the researchers, the simplest thing is to pass the pill without undo in the stomach, since it is enough to make the pill with a material resistant to the enzymes of the stomach that will be dissolved in the intestine. Polyacrylic and polymethacrylic acids (hydrogels) meet these characteristics, so the Russians have also used them. The problem is that when the pill is dissolved in the intestine, insulin is destroyed before it is absorbed. This is where the Russians have made the greatest innovation.

Three-component pickups have been synthesized. The pills are small compressed hydrogel grains that contain insulin inside which is expelled when you reach the intestine. To protect insulin from intestinal enzymes, a hydrogel inhibitor has been associated. Since the inhibitor is attached to the hydrogel and the hydrogel cannot be digested, there is no danger of reaching the blood, they will be removed along with the stools. As inhibitors, a glycoprotein of eggs has been used, which can play a double role. The protein part acts as an inhibitor and the glycemic part as an anchor.

The intestinal walls contain the lectin substance that is associated with the glucids, so the glycoprotein allows the granules to stick to the walls and the insulin to quickly enter from the wall to the blood. In this way, they escape from the enzymatic attack and enough insulin comes to the blood.

The pills have been tested in mice, rats and rabbits and are already in the second phase of the clinical sessions. They are not harmful, but still need to prove their effectiveness. However, it seems that very encouraging results are being given.