Drug-delivering micromotors (green) are propelled through the stomach by hydrogen peroxide bubbles.LABORATORY FOR NANOBIOELECTRONICS AT UC SAN DIEGOResearchers have built drug-delivery capsules that neutralize stomach acid and use the resulting hydrogen peroxide bubbles to propel themselves and deliver an antibiotic. When tested in mice, the “micromotors” proved slightly more effective than the same dose of antibiotic delivered orally along with an acidity-lowering proton pump inhibitor, researchers report yesterday (August 16) in Nature Communications.
Combatting the Helicobacter pylori bacteria that cause ulcers is a challenge because stomach acid can destroy antibiotics before they have a chance to work, reports New Scientist. To get around this, the drugs are given together with proton pump inhibitors that make the stomach less acidic, but long-term use of the inhibitors can cause side effects.
So researchers led by Joseph Wang and Liangfang Zhang of the University of California, San Diego, devised micromotors, about half the width of a human hair, with a core of magnesium, a protective layer of titanium dioxide, the antibiotic clarithromycin, and a polymer that sticks to the stomach wall, according to a university statement. The little capsules were engineered only to release their antibiotic cargo at a certain (not ...
