Researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) have created a new method to deliver drugs directly to the gut, offering hope for better treatments for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
This new technique, called GlycoCaging, allows powerful medicines to reach the inflamed part of the gut using much lower doses than current treatments, helping to reduce harmful side effects.
The findings, published in the journal Science, are the result of a proof-of-concept study in mice. The research shows that GlycoCaging can deliver medicine right where it’s needed—in the lower gut—while using three to ten times less of the drug than current methods.
IBD, which includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, affects over 322,000 people in Canada, one of the countries with the highest rates of the disease. These conditions can cause chronic pain, inflammation, and damage to the digestive tract, often starting in early adulthood. Despite available treatments, there is still no cure, and the disease can be life-altering.
Steroids are one of the most common treatments for IBD flares. However, they are known for their serious side effects, especially when used over time. These include bone loss, high blood pressure, mood disorders, and increased risk of diabetes.
Because the medicine is absorbed in the stomach and upper gut, doctors must prescribe large doses to ensure some of it reaches the lower gut, where inflammation usually occurs.
The new GlycoCaging method offers a clever solution. The idea came from how our gut bacteria break down certain fibers from fruits and vegetables. These fibers contain molecules that can only be digested by specific bacteria living in the lower gut.
The researchers used this idea to attach a medicine—like a steroid—to one of these special molecules. The result is a kind of chemical “treasure chest” that stays closed until it meets the “key”: bacteria that live in the lower gut.
In their tests, the scientists used a steroid not normally used for IBD to prove that this technique could work with different types of drugs. They treated two types of mice with IBD using this method for up to nine weeks.
Despite using much smaller doses, the mice showed the same reduction in gut inflammation as those treated with the full-strength drug. Importantly, the medicine did not spread much to other parts of the body, showing that it targeted only the gut.
The team also tested human stool samples from 33 people, both with and without IBD, to see if their gut bacteria could unlock the GlycoCaged drugs. The results were promising: everyone had the necessary bacterial activity to break open the drug and release it in the gut.
This included people with active inflammation and those in remission. A global database search also showed that most people have the right gut bacteria to make this method work.
This means the GlycoCaging method could one day be used in human treatments. It might help doctors safely prescribe lower doses of strong medications while reducing their risks. Beyond steroids, the method may also work with antibiotics or other gut-targeted drugs.
The research team has already patented the technology and plans to continue testing it in more advanced animal studies and, eventually, in human clinical trials.
In summary, GlycoCaging represents a new, more precise way to treat gut diseases like IBD. By using gut bacteria as a trigger, this method delivers medicine exactly where it’s needed and avoids exposing the rest of the body to harmful drug levels. If successful in human trials, this approach could lead to safer, more effective treatments for millions of people.
If you care about gut health, please read studies about how probiotics can protect gut health, and Mycoprotein in diet may reduce risk of bowel cancer and improve gut health.
For more health information, please see recent studies about how food additives could affect gut health, and the best foods for gut health.
The research findings can be found in Science.
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