{"id":17808,"date":"2026-05-07T01:41:42","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T21:41:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/?p=17808"},"modified":"2026-05-07T03:42:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T23:42:16","slug":"scientists-have-developed-an-insulin-cream-that-could-replace-needles-in-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/scientists-have-developed-an-insulin-cream-that-could-replace-needles-in-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists have developed an insulin cream that could replace needles in the future"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-path-to-node=\"0\">A new study published in the journal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41586-025-09729-x\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nature<\/a> offers a promising update for people with diabetes\u2014insulin intake may soon be possible through the skin, without the need for needles. Scientists have developed a special transdermal polymer, the efficacy of which has already been successfully tested under laboratory conditions. Experiments conducted on mice and pigs showed that insulin chemically bound to this polymer, which was applied to the animals as a cream, ensured a rapid normalization of blood glucose levels.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"1\">This innovative approach will enable patients to manage the disease with regular patches instead of painful injections. According to bioengineer Yuxing Shen, transdermal (through the skin) delivery of drugs is a long-held dream of medicine, because regular injections are associated with great discomfort for patients\u2014causing stress induced by the fear of needles, physical pain, skin damage, and frequently, a disruption of the treatment regimen. Taking insulin in the form of pills is impossible, because it breaks down in the digestive tract and, consequently, loses its biological activity.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"2\">Although delivering drugs through the skin is already a well-tested method for small molecules like nicotine, everything becomes more complicated in the case of insulin. It is a large protein hormone, for which the complex structure of the skin is an insurmountable barrier. Until now, scientists tried to increase skin permeability using microneedles, ultrasound, or special chemicals. However, these methods disrupted skin integrity, which increased the risk of developing infections.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"3\">In response to this challenge, Shen and his colleagues developed a completely new polymer that moves naturally through the various layers of the skin without causing any damage. The polymer is initially positively charged, which allows it to easily bind to the negatively charged fatty acid molecules present in the upper protective layer of the skin. The surface layer is characterized by an acidic environment and its pH ranges from 4 to 5, but the deeper layers are neutral, where the pH equals approximately 7. The increase in pH triggers a reaction during which the polymer becomes electrically neutral; in this state, it is released from the fatty molecules, allowing it to easily diffuse (penetrate) into the deeper layers of the skin.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"4\">Shen and his colleagues chemically bound insulin to this polymer. Using fluorescent dyes and various imaging methods, they confirmed that the combined molecule successfully reaches the circulatory system through the skin, from where it accumulates in tissues involved in glucose regulation, including the liver. &#8220;The polymer works like a locomotive, and the insulin is its cargo,&#8221; says Shen.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"5\">In mice and pigs with diabetes, whose skin is similar to human skin, the use of the compound reduced glucose levels in the circulatory system to normal levels within one to two hours, which is proportional to the effect of injectable insulin. Notably, the sugar level was maintained within the normal range for 12 hours, which significantly exceeds the duration of action of insulin administered by injection (four hours).<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"6\">&#8220;The polymer showed no side effects in mice or pigs, but humans use insulin for decades, so we definitely need to study long-term toxicity,&#8221; Shen notes. The next necessary phase will be clinical trials (testing on humans), where core importance will be given to the comprehensive assessment of efficacy and long-term safety.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"7\">According to Shen, the team of scientists is already actively exploring the possibilities of administering other medications through the skin, including non-injectable alternatives for the active ingredient of &#8220;Ozempic,&#8221; the popular drug intended for weight loss.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"8\"><b data-path-to-node=\"8\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Source:<\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencenews.org\/article\/needle-free-insulin-skin-diabetes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> sciencenews.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A new study published in the journal Nature offers a promising update for people with diabetes\u2014insulin intake may soon be possible through the skin, without the need for needles. Scientists have developed a special transdermal polymer, the efficacy of which has already been successfully tested under laboratory conditions. Experiments conducted on mice and pigs showed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":17807,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1594,1668,1665,1587],"tags":[2325,5441,2987,2318],"class_list":["post-17808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-pharmacy","category-public-health","category-research","tag-diabetes","tag-diabetes-treatment","tag-insulin","tag-diabeti"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17808"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17808\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17809,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17808\/revisions\/17809"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}