Tiny mesoporous silica particles block food enzymes reducing metabolic risk factors and blood sugar levels
Stockholm, May 4, 2020: Sigrid Therapeutics today announced the publication of a multifaceted, scientific study in the peer-reviewed journal Advanced Healthcare Materials showing that a radical new approach using mesoporous silica particles (MSPs) can be used to prevent type 2-diabetes and treat obesity. By blocking food enzyme activity, MSPs reduce energy intake from food and lower blood sugar and other metabolic risk factors. The MSPs are administered orally in solution and passed harmlessly from the body in stools.
The study report comprising a combination of clinical, ex vivo, in vitro and in vivo data:
1) confirms previously reported reductions in glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and LDL cholesterol in man in response to MSP ingestion,
2) demonstrates sequestration of pancreatic amylase and lipase in an MSP pore-size dependent manner
3) describes in ex vivo experiments in conditions mimicking intestinal conditions and in vivo experiments in mice, enzyme activities dropped upon exposure to the engineered MSP.
Taken together, the results are compatible with a mode of action whereby a portion of the enzymes is trapped inside the MSPs resulting in an enzyme-blocking effect.
The head of the research team behind the study, Professor Tore Bengtsson at the Department of Molecular Biosciences, The Wenner-Gren Institute, Stockholm University and Sigrid Co-founder and CSO comments: “To get a deeper understanding of the conditions under which MSPs can trap enzymes of interest, we designed a range of experiments including studies in obese individuals, ex vivo, in vitro and in vivo experiments in mice. The results fully support our original concept of using MSPs as “molecular sieves” to prevent type 2-diabetes and treat obesity.”
“I am very proud of our brilliant and heartfelt researchers at Sigrid for our second major publication this year, adding to the growing body of scientific evidence for using Sigrid’s precisely engineered MSPs as a novel way to prevent and treat type 2-diabetes and obesity”, says Sana Alajmovic, Sigrid Co-founder & CEO: “Preventing type-2 diabetes has never been more urgent as the disease is one of the major risk-factors for serious illness upon infection with the Coronavirus.”, concludes Sana Alajmovic.
Title and link to the scientific publication:
Entrapping Digestive Enzymes with Engineered Mesoporous Silica Particles Reduces Metabolic Risk Factors in Humans, Advanced Healthcare Materials, 2020, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/adhm.202000057
For more information, please contact:
Tore Bengtsson, Professor at the Department of Molecular Biosciences, Stockholm University
Phone +46 70 5473994,
Email: Tore.Bengtsson@su.se
Sana Alajmovic, Co-Founder & CEO, Sigrid Therapeutics
Phone +46 72 389 3396,
Email: sana@sigridthx.com.
About Sigrid Therapeutics
Sigrid Therapeutics (Sigrid) is a clinical-stage technology startup pioneering a new class of engineered materials to prevent and treat metabolic diseases and disorders, including type 2 diabetes. The Company’s lead product candidate, SiPore15TM, is an orally-administered medical device based on the Company’s proprietary platform technology, SiPore15TM. Designed to act locally in the gut, SiPore15TM consists of precisely engineered micron-sized silica particles with tailored porosity. Clinical data confirms SiPore15TM: beneficial effects on a range of metabolic parameters and its excellent safety profile. Upon its approval, SiPore15TM will be the first medical device available for the reduction of blood sugar levels in people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. https://www.sigridthx.com/.
