RESEARCHERS at University of Utah Health developed a proof-of-concept technology using nanoparticles that could offer a new approach for oral medications.
The results will be published online in the August 8 issue of the journal ACS Nano.
“In the pharmaceutical world, this has been regarded as the holy grail,” said You Han Bae, Ph.D., professor Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry at U of U Health and senior author on the paper.
Nanomedicine is a burgeoning field of medicine that delivers tiny particles (nanoparticles) to carry drugs to treat a variety of conditions, including cancer. These treatments are commonly given intravenously, because solid nanoparticles have a poor absorption rate in the body.
Bae and his team modified the surface of the nanoparticles with glycocholic acid, a bile acid that helps the body absorb fat in the small intestine.
