summary: A new pill called FLASH has been developed to control appetite without drugs or invasive procedures.
Researchers designed the pill to send electrical impulses to the lining of the stomach and regulate gut hormones associated with hunger. The pill has been shown to affect the release of the appetite hormone ghrelin in pig trials.FLASH has the potential to treat a variety of metabolic and diet-related disorders without drugs or surgery.
Researchers are currently conducting additional preclinical trials and aim to begin human trials within five years.
sauce: new york university
A new electric “pill” could control people’s appetites without drugs or invasive medical procedures. This is a promising advance in the treatment of eating disorders and other medical conditions that benefit from adjusting someone’s food intake.
Developed by researchers at New York University’s Tandon Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the pill, called FLASH, delivers electrical impulses to the stomach lining when swallowed. This targeted stimulation triggers the brain to regulate hunger-related gut hormones.
In a study published in Science Robotics, researchers were able to influence the release of the appetite hormone ghrelin using FLASH in a pig trial by orally administering a single tablet. made it clear.
“The gut and brain communicate through a neural pathway known as the gut-brain axis that regulates many bodily functions, including feeding,” says NYU Tandon Assistant Professor of Bioengineering and Advanced Neuroengineering and Translators. Khalil Ramadi, Director of the National Institute, said. NYU Abu Dhabi Medicine. Ramadi is the co-first author and co-corresponding author of the study.
“FLASH is the first ingestible electronic device shown to work with the gut to regulate hormones that regulate brain activity at the gut-brain axis. By altering its release, FLASH has the potential to treat many metabolic and diet-related disorders without pharmaceuticals or surgery, which is a major step forward in tackling these diseases,” said Ramadi. I’m here.
People with some medical conditions use appetite stimulants and anti-nausea medications to increase food consumption, which can lead to symptoms such as restlessness, fatigue, uncontrolled weight gain, headaches, and muscle cramps. May cause unwanted side effects.
Electrical stimulation of the gastrointestinal tract may increase appetite, but this approach usually requires surgery and carries inherent risks. The effectiveness of this method may also be limited by the presence of fluid in the stomach and intestines.
Alternative approaches such as deep brain stimulation and vagus nerve stimulation have been successful in regulating appetite, but also involve invasive surgical procedures.
FLASH overcomes the drawbacks of traditional methods used to stimulate appetite as it has no side effects and does not require surgical intervention. Its design is also noteworthy, featuring a unique surface that mimics the skin of a water-breathing lizard. This innovative feature protects the capsule from deterioration and allows it to function effectively within the highly moist environment of the gastrointestinal tract.
“FLASH represents a breakthrough for several reasons,” says Giovanni Traverso, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who collaborated with Ramadi on the research.
“First, it was proven that the tablet did not have to contain a drug and could instead be designed to deliver electrical impulses that modulate physiology. can be designed to target specific cells or locations for targeted therapy.
“The second key innovation is the surface design. We find another scenario where surfaces can wick fluids and enable robust electrical connections within the body.”
Early studies have demonstrated FLASH’s efficacy in increasing hunger, Ramadi said, and may help treat eating disorders such as anorexia and avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID). I have.
However, by modulating the type and location of stimulation, this technology could reverse regulate hormones, reduce overall hunger, and potentially offer treatments for metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes. Its development could also treat neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression and substance addiction.
The FLASH research team is currently conducting additional preclinical trials with the goal of starting human trials with an advanced prototype within five years.
This study adds to Ramadi’s groundbreaking body of work advancing the field of electrofeeding to treat disease. Earlier this year, he and a group of his colleagues announced successful trials of an electromagnetic “pill” that uses technology like an MRI machine to provide a window into the gastrointestinal tract. In 2021, he will publish a study on electronic intake as his TED Fellow.
Ramadi is co-lead and co-author of a paper published in Science Robotics. Along with Traverso, his other MIT collaborators on this research are: Aragon, Keiko Ishida, Johannes Kuosmanen, Josh Jenkins, Alison Hayward, Ken Camlin.
About this neuroscience research news
author: Leah Sumer
sauce: new york university
contact: Leah Sumer – NYU
image: Image credited to Neuroscience News
Original research: closed access.
“A bio-inspired ingestible electroceutical capsule for hunger-regulating hormone regulation’ Khalil Ramadi et al. science robotics
overview
A bio-inspired ingestible electroceutical capsule for hunger-regulating hormone regulation
The gut-brain axis, mediated through gut and central neurohormonal signaling, is known to regulate a wide array of physiological functions, from feeding to emotional behavior.
Various pharmaceutical and surgical interventions, such as exercise drugs and bariatric surgery, have been used to modulate this axis. However, such approaches expose patients to significant risks associated with off-target effects or post-procedure recovery times.
Electrical stimulation has also been used in an attempt to modulate the gut-brain axis with greater spatial and temporal resolution. However, electrical stimulation of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract has generally required invasive intervention for electrode placement on serosal tissue.
It remains difficult to stimulate mucosal tissue due to the presence of gastric and intestinal fluids that can affect the efficacy of local luminal stimulation.
Here, we give the body a hint for active stimulation and hormonal modulation (FLASH), which can rapidly uptake fluid, locally stimulate mucosal tissue, and cause systemic modulation of orexigenic GI hormones. We report on the development of an obtained ingestible liquid wicking capsule.
get inspiration from Moloch Horridus, To address the ‘spiny devil’ lizard with skin that sucks water, we have developed a capsule surface that can displace liquid.
We characterized the stimulation parameters of various GI hormone modulations in a porcine model and applied these parameters to an ingestible capsule system. FLASH can be administered orally to modulate gut hormones and is safely excreted without adverse effects in a swine model.
We expect that this device can be used to noninvasively treat metabolic, gastrointestinal, and neuropsychiatric disorders with minimal off-target effects.
