"Microneedle Pills" which may "Replace Injections" - the future of drugs?

[AtomicChronic]

"Microneedle Pills" which may "Replace Injections" - the future of drugs?

It's been a while since i've posted... but some interesting stuff has been brought to my attention and I'm curious what everyone thinks about this.

New Drug-Delivery Capsule May Replace Injections

Given a choice, most patients would prefer to take a drug orally instead of getting an injection. Unfortunately, many drugs, especially those made from large proteins, cannot be given as a pill because they get broken down in the stomach before they can be absorbed. To help overcome that obstacle, researchers at MIT and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have devised a novel drug capsule coated with tiny needles that can inject drugs directly into the lining of the stomach after the capsule is swallowed. In animal studies, the team found that the capsule delivered insulin more efficiently than injection under the skin, and there were no harmful side effects as the capsule passed through the digestive system.

Schoellhammer, Traverso, and their colleagues set out to design a capsule that would serve as a platform for the delivery of a wide range of therapeutics, prevent degradation of the drugs, and inject the payload directly into the lining of the GI tract. Their prototype acrylic capsule, 2 centimeters long and 1 centimeter in diameter, includes a reservoir for the drug and is coated with hollow, stainless steel needles about 5 millimeters long. [...] Because there are no pain receptors in the GI tract, patients would not feel any pain from the drug injection.

The team now plans to modify the capsule so that peristalsis, or contractions of the digestive tract, would slowly squeeze the drug out of the capsule as it travels through the tract. They are also working on capsules with needles made of degradable polymers and sugar that would break off and become embedded in the gut lining, where they would slowly disintegrate and release the drug. This would further minimize any safety concern.

it seems that it could be MORE effective than injection in some cases, and its obviously appealing to those who haven't, and won't put a needle in their arm (like myself) recreationally. that being said i don't seem to have a problem with taking something like this if it were studied, proven to be safe, and mass produced.

Just think of the theoretical applications of such a device.. greatly potentiating any drug of choice without any noticeable difference in administration. (maybe a bigger pill). you could increase the activity of drugs which aren't orally active (DMT without the use of an MAOI perhaps). even the possibilities of effective withdrawal medications for opiate use, as it would ease symptoms in a more familiar and direct manner. Im thinking that as this develops, we can manipulate so many things to change the drug's absorption into the system. maybe this pill could make short acting drugs last longer, and vice-versa. Maybe even make oral drugs come up way faster if not instantly.

hell, maybe with added technology we could 'schedule' the duration of effects. Scheduled or intermittent injections could augment the length of the experience, regardless of dosage, the drug, or its typical oral duration. my mind is just racing on the different possibilities of this new technology. i understand it's just an oversized prototype which requires years of testing if it will ever be mass produced, and even at that, we'd be lucky its ever used with recreational drugs, but hey, you never know.

What do you think!

 

[Hecticus]

I think i'd still go with the needle.
Very interesting. This should increase the efficiency of a lot of medications and ofcourse psychoactives. Still the main disadvantage here is length of onset. I wonder how rapid the come up would be, rushing possibly?
I'd give to try one with MDMA.

 

[Black]

it seems that it could be MORE effective than injection in some cases, and its obviously appealing to those who haven't, and won't put a needle in their arm (like myself) recreationally. that being said i don't seem to have a problem with taking something like this if it were studied, proven to be safe, and mass produced.

Just think of the theoretical applications of such a device.. greatly potentiating any drug of choice without any noticeable difference in administration. (maybe a bigger pill). you could increase the activity of drugs which aren't orally active (DMT without the use of an MAOI perhaps). even the possibilities of effective withdrawal medications for opiate use, as it would ease symptoms in a more familiar and direct manner. Im thinking that as this develops, we can manipulate so many things to change the drug's absorption into the system. maybe this pill could make short acting drugs last longer, and vice-versa. Maybe even make oral drugs come up way faster if not instantly.

hell, maybe with added technology we could 'schedule' the duration of effects. Scheduled or intermittent injections could augment the length of the experience, regardless of dosage, the drug, or its typical oral duration. my mind is just racing on the different possibilities of this new technology. i understand it's just an oversized prototype which requires years of testing if it will ever be mass produced, and even at that, we'd be lucky its ever used with recreational drugs, but hey, you never know.

What do you think!

more effective than i.v. per definition isn't possible.
dmt still won't be active. all blood from the digestive organs flows through the liver first and any dmt that takes that path will at the latest be munched up by the mao in the liver.

it really is only good for getting biomolecules, that would be degraded by digestive enzymes like proteases into the bloodstream. so insulin, peptide hormones or monoclonal antibodies...

it's already possible to schedule the effects of drugs in traditional tablets. there are various techniques that allow to control how fast active ingredients from which parts of the pill are set free in which parts of the digestive tract. but of course that needs expertise and makes the manufactoring process more complicated, so it just isn't feasible for illegal drugs.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

I think i'd still go with the needle.

same here

needle phobia is probably a very wise, evolutionary aspect to protect us from addiction

but people will just have to get over it if they require medicines that require the IV route

 

[szuko000]

needle phobia is probably a very wise, evolutionary aspect to protect us from addiction

That's an interesting idea, never considered that to be from evolution. Millions of years of ancient humans injecting dope created a phobia similar to spiders

 

[Pharcyde]

neat

 

[Captain.Heroin]

That's an interesting idea, never considered that to be from evolution. Millions of years of ancient humans injecting dope created a phobia similar to spiders

Well not injection in itself

Injection hasn't been around long enough for an evolutionary effect to take place.

But humans have poked themselves accidentally/inadvertently with a multitude of harmful objects

and the needle resembles the aforementioned objects

hence what I was getting at

 

[mew4]

no fucking way, this will never catch on. maybe in extremely rare cases with a protein or something, but not generally.

 

[szuko000]

Well not injection in itself

Injection hasn't been around long enough for an evolutionary effect to take place.

But humans have poked themselves accidentally/inadvertently with a multitude of harmful objects

and the needle resembles the aforementioned objects

hence what I was getting at

Yeah I figured as much, I was really just joking at the wording.

 

[lilczey]

neat

Secounded

 

[8ft-Sativa]

I like my Scotch ..... Neat.