Treating chronic diseases by controlling nerve cells
A range of diseases including arthritis, asthma and diabetes could be treated by sending electric pulses and controlling the human nerve cells.
This technique will be used by a new company, called Galvani Bioelectronics, to bring in new treatments for the said conditions within seven years. The company was formed by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Verily (formerly Google Life Sciences).
They have attached tiny silicone cuffs containing electrodes around a nerve during animal experiments. They then used a power supply to control the nerve’s messages. One set of tests suggested that the technique could help treat type 2 diabetes, in which the body ignores the hormone insulin.
They focused on a cluster of chemical sensors near the main artery in the neck that check levels of sugar and the hormone insulin. The sensors send their findings back to the brain, via a nerve, so the organ can coordinate the body’s response to sugar in the bloodstream.
According to GSK vice-president of bioelectronics Kris Famm, neural signatures in the nerves increase in patients with type 2 diabetes. So they blocked those neural signatures in diabetic rats and saw that the sensitivity of the body to insulin was restored. Early work also suggested that it could potentially be used to treat other diseases as well.
But he said the field was only “scratching the surface” when it came to understanding which nerve signals have what effect in the body. Both the volume and rhythm of the nerve signals could be having an effect rather than it being a simple case of turning the nerve on or off.
And even if the approach works theoretically, a huge amount of effort will be needed to make the technology practical.
The nerve-hacking kits will need to be miniaturized, customizable to different patients’ nerves, and durable enough to survive in the body long-term and have sufficient battery power.
Verily chief technology officer Brian Otis said: “Bioelectronic medicine is a new area of therapeutic exploration, and we know that success will require the confluence of deep disease biology expertise and new highly miniaturized technologies.”
Category: Features, Technology & Devices