A new method of Drug Administration for gastric ulcer inspired by plants.

What is it about?

Bismuth‐containing therapies has been suggested as first‐line and rescue alternative for gastric ulcer (GU) treating and Helicobacter pylori (HP) eradication. Current eradication, called quadruple therapy, entails proton-pump inhibitor, bismuth, two broadband antibiotics, however resistance to either clarithromycin or metronidazole is greater than 25% and rising. Therefore, from the perspective of natural medicine, a treatment platform was established: A drug carrier microcapsule composed of bismuth, gallotannin (GA) and antibiotics was obtained (BiG@MCs), and further evaluated the therapeutic effects of BiG@MCs in rodent models. The experiments show that the BiG@MCs are spherical with homogeneous particle size (3 ± 0.5 µm) and can be response-released in the acid-base environment of stomach (pH 2.0-3.0), preventing the premature release of the BiG@MCs in physiological conditions. Moreover, the phenolic hydroxyl groups on the surface of the microcapsules provide the possibility of targeted and sustained release for the functionalization of the microcapsules. Bismuth component can be easily identified by computed omography (CT) and other detection instruments, which provides the possibility for drug tracing. Collectively, these results indicate that BiG@MCs provide a versatile platform for the GU therapeutics.

Featured Image

Photo by Igor Miske on Unsplash

Photo by Igor Miske on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The drug carrier used in this work itself has anti-inflammatory effect. Through simple formulation, a variety of anti gastric ulcer drugs can be combined in one drug carrier, which is expected to reduce the drug burden of patients.

Perspectives