New Light-Initiated Drug Delivery Studied

Northern Irish scientists, in a move toward delivering medication directly to diseased tissue, have developed a light-controlled dosing system.

Colin McCoy and colleagues at Queen’s University Belfast said their new molecular-scale dosing system is a new paradigm for price control of drug dosing using light that minimizes side effects and damage to healthy parts of the body.

The technique consists of medications combined with certain chemical compounds that respond to light in ways that release precisely controlled amounts of the drug. Drug release begins when light falls on the compounds, and lasts only as long as the light continues to shine.

The study reports successful laboratory tests of the system in the controlled release of three common medications used to treat pain and inflammation — aspirin, ibuprofen and ketoprofen.

One potential use cited in the study would be in the treatment of urinary catheter infections. The system might also be applied in other conditions using an implant under the skin for precisely controlled drug dosing, the researchers suggest.

The study is scheduled to appear in the Aug. 15 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.