Not Hair Loss News – New Bioadhesive Coating Could Bring Ability for Insulin Pills

Snippet from the article:

In a new study, a “bioadhesive” coating developed at Brown University significantly improved the intestinal absorption into the bloodstream of nanoparticles that someday could carry protein drugs such as insulin. Such a step is necessary for drugs taken by mouth, rather than injected directly into the blood.

For protein-based drugs such as insulin to be taken orally rather than injected, bioengineers need to find a way to shuttle them safely through the stomach to the small intestine where they can be absorbed and distributed by the bloodstream. Progress has been slow, but in a new study, researchers report an important technological advance: They show that a “bioadhesive” coating significantly increased the intestinal uptake of polymer nanoparticles in rats and that the nanoparticles were delivered to tissues around the body in a way that could potentially be controlled.

Read the rest — Polymer coatings a key step toward oral delivery of protein-based drugs

This is exciting research, and although it is obviously not hair loss related, I wanted to share this with our readers. The article points out that progress has been slow and they’re just testing in lab rats at this stage, but perhaps in the future this advancement will lead to new methods of treating type 1 and 2 diabetes, such as an oral pill instead of needle injections.