Injectable nanotherapeutics that can be programmed to deliver selectively drugs to the cells of the pancreas could potentially improve treatment of Type I diabetes.

Researchers at Harvard University (Boston, MA, USA) and Children's Hospital Boston (CHB; Boston, MA, USA) developed a proof-of-concept design for pancreatic islet-targeting nanoparticles that were modified with a unique peptide. The researchers found that the novel polymeric nanomaterials exhibited a three-fold greater binding to islet endothelial cells, and a 200-fold greater anti-inflammatory effect through targeted islet endothelial cell delivery of an immunosuppressant drug. The dramatic increase in efficacy means that smaller amounts of drugs would be needed for treatment, opening the possibility of significantly reduced toxic side effects, as well as lower treatment costs. The study was published in the December 2011 issue of Nano Letters.

“The consequences of Type I diabetes are felt in both the people who live with the disease and in the terrible strain that treatment costs put on the economy,” said lead author Donald Ingber MD, PhD. “In keeping with our vision at the Wyss Institute, we hope that the programmable nanotherapy we have developed here will have a major positive impact on people's lives in the future.”

Type I diabetes, which often strikes children and young adults, is a debilitating disease in which the body's immune system progressively destroys the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. The risk of developing Type I diabetes, which can lead to serious health complications such as kidney failure and blindness, can be predicted with 90% accuracy. But therapeutic intervention for people identified as high risk has so far been limited due to many systemic treatments being barred from clinical use as a result of the severe side effects produced when used at the high doses required to achieve a therapeutic response.

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