Nanostructured hydrogel of prolonged action
Employees of the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) in Singapore have developed a hydrogel for drug delivery that can be used in the treatment of patients with hepatitis C.
Standard treatment of chronic infections, for example, hepatitis C, includes weekly injections of a protein drug – pegylated interferon (single "tandems" of an interferon molecule with an added single molecule of polyethylene glycol – peginterferon alpha-2a, or two polymer chains – peginterferon alpha-2b, in the figure). Previously, scientists have not been able to use hydrogels for drug delivery, since no mechanism has been developed to regulate the rate of interferon release.
The authors of a new study have found a solution to this problem. Scientists have created a gel from dextran polysaccharide with microscopic bubbles that serve as "reservoirs" that gradually release drugs. According to the data presented in the journal Biomaterials (Bae et al., Microstructured dextran hydrogels for burst-free sustained release of PEGylated protein drugs), this structure of the gel avoids premature intake of the drug into the body: it consistently flows from one "reservoir" to another, and only after a certain time the drug is completely released.
"The new gel eliminates the premature release of the drug in the body. This allows it to be used for long-term drug delivery, and also reduces the degree of side effects. We hope that our development will help patients suffering from chronic diseases such as hepatitis C," said Jackie Ying, Executive Director of IBN.
Nanostructured hydrogel on a conventional photograph and under an optical microscope. Pictures from the press release of IBN A Gel That Can Make Drugs Last Longer.
This enhances their therapeutic effect, and also allows the patient to inject less often," the authors of the study explained. In tests on mice, one injection of hydrogel provided a therapeutic concentration of PEG interferon in the blood, while the injection of existing peginterferons has to be done once a week.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on a note in "Mednovosti"29.06.2015