NUMS Scientists To Treat Severe Inflammatory Disease Of Large Intestine

Scientists Are Working On A Research Project Related To “Nanomedicine” For Curing The Large Intestinal Inflammatory Disease

National University of Medical Sciences (NUMS) scientists are working on a research project related to “Nanomedicine” for curing the large intestinal inflammatory disease, medically called “Ulcerative Colitis (UC)” which affects millions of people worldwide including Pakistan, whose life-long expensive medication does not cure them completely and also has severe side effects.

This was stated here Sunday by Dr. Muhammad Naeem, a PhD in nanomedicine from South Korea. Dr. Naeem is working on nanotechnology- based drug development for therapy of UC with funding of over PKR 9 million from the Higher education Commission’s “National Research Programme for Universities (NRPU)”. Dr. Uzma Azeem Awan, the Co-Principal Investigator has extensive research in nano medicine from the United States.

“The main symptoms of UC are fever, abdominal pain, diarrhea, weight loss and rectal bleeding which has a negative influence the patients’ daily life” said Dr. Naeem. The precise cause of UC is unknown, however, diet, life style, intestinal microbiota or genetic factors are likely to cause the disease. In severe cases, surgery is required to remove the diseased parts of the intestine. The available medicines in the market are administered either orally, intravenouly or through the rectal route but sufficient dose of medicines do not reach the inflamed part of the large intestine. “Hence, UC cannot be treated effectively through conventional therapies and the ailment may turn into cancer of the large intestine” said Dr. Naeem.

By applying nanotechnology, the NUMS team is confident that they will be able to develop an oral or rectal nano-size drug delivery system with the potential to accumulate in the disrupted upper membrane of inflamed large intestine. The accumulation of nano-sized drug in the target inflamed parts of large intestine is expected to lead to improved therapeutic efficacy and reduced systemic drug side effects.

Explaining the characteristics of the proposed “nanomedicine”, Dr. Naeem said that this nanomedicine will reach and accumulate in the affected area of the inflamed intestine due to its extremely small size. Secondly, the specially designed coating will help target only the inflamed area, making it an effective drug for the treatment of this chronic disease. Further he added that this nanomedicine will be most effective at a very low dose which is not the case with the available medicines in the market. This nanomedicine is going to be very promising to treat “Ulcerative Colitis”.

This news was originally published at APP