A group of researchers from Zhejiang University in China presented insulin using nanoparticles that independently regulate the amount of a substance depending on blood sugar levels. Scientific work published At Angewandte Chemie.
It is not the first time that biocompatible lipid nanoparticles have been used in pharmaceuticals, one of the main advantages of which is a homogeneous chemical structure. The creators of self-regulating insulin modified the surfaces of lipid nanoparticles so that their positive charges are electrostatically attached to negatively charged insulin molecules.
The scientists tested the resulting self-regulating insulin on laboratory mice suffering from diabetes. As found by the inventors, insulin is released slowly when blood sugar levels are normal. And if blood sugar levels rise, the lipids in the nanoparticles form a chemical bond with glucose, reducing the positive charge on the nanoparticles’ surface, causing insulin to be released faster.
After administration of modified insulin, blood glucose levels in diabetic mice dropped to reference levels at the same rate as in healthy rodents, and the effect of the injection maintained normal blood glucose levels for six hours.