BENGALURU: Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have figured out an alternative way for drug delivery to a human body.The researchers, headed by Dr Mrinmoy De, associate professor at the IISc’s Department of Organic Chemistry, discovered an alternative way to deliver drugs to a human body, that can help in lowering the cost of medicine and can be used through a number of different delivery systems, including powder, pills, ointments, patches and intravenous injections.
Speaking to TNIE, Dr De said that the alternative material, two-dimensional molybdenum disulphide (2D-MoS2) nanosheets, can replace the currently widely-used material in drug delivery. “The most popular material used for drug delivery in modern medicine is gold nano-particles. The preparation of the gold nano-particle and the material itself -- both are very expensive. Compared to this, what we are using is basically recycled industrial waste. It’s incredibly bio-compatible, non-toxic and benign, so it can replace the popular gold nano-particle as a drug delivery material. It’s a much more cheaper and convenient alternative,” said Dr De.
Looking at medicine at the nano level, drug molecules are attached, or ‘loaded’ to a drug delivery system, in this case, 2D-MoS2. After medicine is ingested, the 2D-MoS2 sets about delivering the drug molecules to the designated part of the body that will be affected by the medicine. “This is one of our recent findings, wherein, if you use the 2D-MoS2, we can load drug molecules onto its surface and, upon reaching its destination, depending on the destination’s environment, the molecules will be released,” he said.
While 2D-MoS2 has the potential to replace gold nano-par-ticles as a cheaper alternative, Dr De said that the material is still unexplored. “It’s not so much about downsides, however, we have not been able to explore the material so far.
After the delivery, we need to think about the fate of the material in the body, after it has served its purpose. Studies on ‘clearance’ or how the material will exit the body, is currently what we are working on. The main concern is that it should not accumulate in the body over time,” he said, however, adding that upon further studies, the material could help reduce the cost of medicine by cutting down on the cost of raw materials.