Without injections and insulin pumps
Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University in Raleigh (USA), led by Professor Zhen Gu, created and described the properties of artificial beta cells (AßCs).
Type 1 diabetes mellitus is a chronic endocrine disease that develops with insufficient insulin production as a result of the destruction of beta cells of the pancreas by the patient's own immune system.
Currently, the main methods of treating this disease are regular injections of insulin or implantation of an insulin pump. There are no non-invasive methods of insulin administration to date. All attempts to create an insulin preparation in the form of tablets are unsuccessful due to the destruction of the active substance before entering the blood under the influence of enzymes and acids of the digestive tract.
The average diabetic makes 180 injections per month.
It is also possible to treat diabetes by transplanting pancreatic cells. But this method is very expensive. In addition, the patient will be forced to constantly take drugs that suppress their own immunity to prevent transplant rejection. But even in this case, the risk of death of transplanted cells is very high.
Some scientists have tried to create synthetic materials capable of slowly releasing insulin, such as nanoparticles or microgels. But the main problem of such materials, according to the authors of the study, is their "one–sidedness" and relatively passive way of interacting with the human body: they are not able to assess the state of the environment and independently respond to its changes.
Artificial beta cells (AßCs) are the result of 10 years of work by Professor Gu's team (Zhen Gu). At the testing stage, they demonstrate the ability of two-way communication with the body. AßCs can distinguish between normal and high glucose levels and respond to hyperglycemia by releasing insulin.
Such a "beta cell" consists of a double lipid membrane, inside which there are vesicles – microscopic bubbles filled with insulin. In addition to the structure of "vesicles in a vesicle", they have a built-in glucose metabolism system and a mechanism for the fusion of vesicles with the membrane of the shell, which ensures the release of insulin when the level of glucose in the environment increases.
In a study on mice, it was found that a single injection of synthetic beta cells maintained normal blood glucose levels for 5 days.
Scientists plan to further study and improve AßCs, and in the future – to create a skin patch based on this work for patients suffering from insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.
Article by Zhaowei Chen et al. Synthetic beta cells for fusion-mediated dynamic insulin secret is published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.
Aminat Adzhieva, portal "Eternal Youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru according to Medical News Today: Diabetes: Synthetic beta cells could lead to skin patch treatment.