Sigrid Therapeutics has announced the publication of a study in mice in the journal Nanomedicine demonstrating the enzyme-blocking effects of mesoporous silica particles (MSPs) introduced to the gut and the resulting effect on food efficiency and metabolic risk factors.
“These results are very exciting and open up for new possibilities of SiPore15 to be used for weight control and weight loss besides blood sugar control, rending us a powerful new tool in the fight against diabetes and obesity,” says Sana Alajmovic, CEO, Sigrid Therapeutics.
Molecular traps
“We designed an innovative approach. Mesoporous silica particles (MSP) are a type of ingestible synthetic silica particles that can be produced with a large surface area and a range of pore sizes,” says professor Tore Bengtsson at the Department of Molecular Biosciences, The WennerGren Institute, Stockholm University and the one heading the research team behind the study.
The team hypothesized that the particles could be used as “molecular traps” in the intestine to trap and block digestive enzymes that break down food and thus reduce the energy uptake into the body (measured as food efficiency). In the study reported in Nanomedicine, mice were fed high fat, high calorific diets, to induce weight gain, mixed with specially engineered MSPs. The results showed that MSPs reduced food efficiency by 33 per cent leading to a lower weight gain, and a positive effect on the metabolic profile, as well as significant lower levels of adipose tissue formation and leptin, together with lower levels of circulating insulin.
“The data presented in this study suggest that tailored MSPs could be used to treat obesity and diabetes in humans, especially when taking into account their excellent safety profiles,” comments Professor Bengtsson.
Sigrid has previously performed clinical studies demonstrating that SiPore15 lowers blood sugar levels, measured as HbA1c.
Photo of Sana Alajmovic, CEO, Sigrid Therapeutics
