Foam Delivery System Diagram
The human gut microbiome is composed of trillions of microorganisms
belonging to over a thousand identified species. Gut health — that is,
balance in the microbiome — is important to overall health, and variations
in the microbiome’s composition have been associated with several diseases
including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
Working with collaborators at the University of Pennsylvania,
Nicolas Alvarez, PhD
, associate professor, and
Thamires Lima, PhD
, assistant research professor of chemical and biological engineering, are
helping to fill gaps in understanding the complex relationships in these
microbial communities. The Penn researchers have recently identified
peptides that selectively target individual microbiome members to observe
the results of disrupting them. However, the delivery of such peptides is
challenging due to potential degradation by digestive enzymes.
The team at Drexel University is developing foam-drug delivery systems to
overcome this hurdle. Unlike traditional flooding methods, foams have the
advantage of covering a larger surface area of the tissue/organ with higher
peptide concentrations.
“Many different types of foams are used in drug delivery,” Alvarez
explained. “We are seeking to formulate the right kind of foam that is
compatible with the peptides so that we can deliver them exactly where and
when we want.”