Regulating Medicinal Delivery Systems

A Spoonful Of Sugar Makes The Medicine Go To Work reveals a clever means of regulating timely delivery connected with treatment for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Human growth factors are delivered and bacteria are the deliverers of them. The goal is to repair colon cells; reducing inflammation caused by IBD. The regulating switch is a sugar known as xylan, found in tree bark.

The linked article quotes a Professor Carding as stating: "It's vitally important to be able to control when and how much of the drug is administered and we believe our discovery will provide that control." The regulated bacteria were modified so as to be able to synthesize HGFs. An encouraging aspect of this is the possibility of applying this approach to treat other diseases.