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Nano horse

Researchers design nano-sized ‘trojan-horse’ designed to aid antioxidants into the body.

Australian researchers have developed a nano-sized solution to better deliver antioxidants to be absorbed by the human body.

Dubbed a nano-sized ‘trojan horse,’ this particle is about one thousandth the thickness of a human hair and can protect antioxidants from being destroyed in the gut, ensuring more of a chance to be absorbed in the digestive tract.

Antioxidants are thought to promote better health of the body as they are known to neutralise the harmful affects of free radicals and other reactive chemical species that are continually generated by our body.

This nanoparticle antioxidant delivery system was designed by Dr Ken Ng and Dr Ian Larson from Monash University's Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. They believe that the body’s defences can be improved in high-risk individuals, such as those with a poor diet or those at risk of developing atherosclerosis, diabetes or Alzheimer's disease.

Dr Larson said orally delivered antioxidants were easily destroyed by acids and enzymes in the human body, with only a small percentage of what is consumed actually being absorbed.

The solution is to design a tiny sponge-like chitosan biopolymeric nanoparticle as a protective vehicle for antioxidants. Chitosan is a natural substance found in crab shells.

"Antioxidants sit within this tiny trojan horse, protecting it from attack from digestive juices in the stomach," Dr Larson said.

"Once in the small intestine the nanoparticle gets sticky and bonds to the intestinal wall. It then leaks its contents directly into the intestinal cells, which allows them to be absorbed directly into the blood stream.

"We hope that by mastering this technique, drugs and supplements also vulnerable to the digestive process can be better absorbed by the human body."

The research project will proceed to trials early in 2009.

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