Insulin inside chocolate: A new lifeline for diabetics without needles
Nearly 425 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes, with 75 million of them requiring daily insulin injections.
As an alternative to these painful injections, scientists at the Arctic University of Norway have developed a new form of smart insulin that can be taken orally, either in a capsule or inside a piece of chocolate, and this work was announced in the journal “Nature Nanotechnology.”
Insulin is encapsulated in tiny nanocarriers, 1/10000th the width of a human hair, making oral insulin delivery more precise, targeting specific areas of the body and reducing unwanted side effects.
Researchers created a protective coating for insulin to prevent degradation by stomach acid and digestive enzymes, where the coating breaks down in the liver, releasing insulin only when blood sugar levels are high, remaining inactive when levels are low.
This method mimics how insulin works in healthy individuals, with controlled release and fewer side effects compared to injections.
The new insulin has been successfully tested on roundworms, mice, rats, and baboons, and the drug was incorporated into sugar-free chocolate for taste testing in baboons.
Human trials are scheduled to begin in 2025, with clinical trials conducted in three stages, starting with healthy individuals, cases of low blood sugar in healthy individuals, and patients with type 1 diabetes, with the new drug expected to be ready for widespread use within 2-3 years.
