Scientists have developed new hydrogels to reduce the frequency of diabetes drug injections from once a day to three times a year.

CTOnews.com, Nov. 23, most people with type 2 diabetes need daily injections of insulin to regulate blood sugar levels in the body. But scientists at Stanford University have recently developed a new hydrogel that can significantly reduce the frequency of administration, increasing the frequency of injections from once a day to once every four months.

The hydrogel contains drugs for diabetics for four months, which means they don't have to take diabetes drugs every day.

Users can use ordinary needles to inject into the body and stay in the body for 4 months, thereby improving the quality of life of patients and reducing complications associated with diabetes management.

Eric Appel, an associate professor of materials science and engineering at Stanford University and co-author of the study, said: "only three injections a year can help people with diabetes or obesity more likely to stick to their drug treatment."

The team has conducted the study in laboratory mice, and the hydrogel can carry diabetes and weight control drugs such as GLP-1, which can not only regulate blood sugar, but also reduce the risk of heart disease and help lose weight.

In their study, the researchers explained that the tiny particles inside the hydrogel form a network structure. The net holds the drug, and when the drug is dispersed, it slowly dissolves and the drug is injected into the body.

The researchers plan to conduct human trials within 1.5-2 years after successfully testing their new technology in pig models.

CTOnews.com is enclosing the reference address of the paper: Use of a biomimetic hydrogel depot technology for sustained delivery of GLP-1 receptor agonists reduces burden of diabetes management,Andrea I. Maikawa,Leslee T. Nguyen,Hanne B. Andersen,Lotte Simonsen,Eric A. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrm.2023.101292