Plant-Derived Insulin Capsules Work in Diabetic Mice

Filed in archive Notable , Research , Treatment on August 1, 2007

Biomedical researchers from University of Central Florida find potential in capsules of insulin derived from genetically modified lettuce.

Professor Henry Daniell's research team genetically engineered tobacco plants with the insulin gene and then administered freeze-dried plant cells to five-week-old diabetic mice as a powder for eight weeks. By the end of the study, the diabetic mice had normal blood and urine sugar levels, and their cells were producing normal levels of insulin.

Those results and prior research indicate that insulin capsules could someday be used to prevent diabetes before symptoms appear and treat the disease in its later stages, Daniell said. He has since proposed using lettuce instead of tobacco to produce the insulin because that crop can be produced cheaply and avoids the negative stigma associated with tobacco.

The findings, reported in the July issue of Plant Biotechnology Journal was made possible through a $2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Typically (as is the current method of insulin delivery), insulin is delivered via injection so that it will go straight to the bloodstream. In this particular study, plant cell walls made of cellulose initially prevent insulin from degrading and then once the plant cells containing insulin reach the intestine, bacteria living there will begin to slowly break down the cell walls and gradually release insulin into the bloodstream.

According to Dr. Daniell:

"Currently, the only relief for diabetes is a momentary relief. Diabetics still have to monitor their blood and urine sugar levels. They have to inject themselves with insulin several times a day. Having a permanent solution for this, I'm sure, would be pretty exciting.

Diabetes is a big health and financial burden in the United States and in the rest of the world. This study would facilitate a dramatic change because so far there is no medicine that will cure insulin-dependent diabetes."

Well, the world has long been waiting for something like this. I certainly hope this will work in humans.

Let's wait and see.

Read the full report.