HMN 2026: How Unfolding stomach capsule could target ulcer-causing bacteria for 48 hours

Between 50% and 100% of people in countries with poor access to clean water are infected with a bacterium called Helicobacter pylori. This bacterium is a leading cause of stomach ulcers, and it can even cause gastric cancer.

There is already treatment available to remove the bacterium from the stomach and, in that way, remove the cause of the ulcers. But—the existing treatment requires large amounts of several antibiotics taken at the same time, and a rigorous medication regimen for about a week or even longer.

The results are often good, but this traditional treatment can cause significant side effects and wreak havoc on the gut microbiome.

Using a lot of antibiotics also increases the risk of developing antimicrobial resistance, or AMR for short.

The ‘unfolding’ medicine

The clever trick that researchers at UiT The Arctic University of Norway came up with—and tested successfully—is to combine a natural polymer from algae, long chains of molecules, with a synthetic polymer. Then they added the antibiotic ciprofloxacin and folded the whole thing to pack it neatly into a capsule.

The work is published in the journal Carbohydrate Polymer Technologies and Applications.

The point is that the capsule dissolves when you swallow it and it reaches the acids of your stomach. The polymers, laced with antibiotics, unfold and return to the shape of a large film that cannot pass from the base of the stomach through the opening into the intestines called the narrow pyloric sphincter.

“This property lets the films stay in the stomach for a long time so that they can release the antibiotics directly to the infection site,” said postdoctoral fellow Ali Raza from the Department of Pharmacy at UiT.

The films can withstand the squeezing forces of the stomach for at least 48 hours, making them far more effective at dispensing the antibiotics than taking tablets that pass through your intestines in a couple of hours.

Appears to be safe

Now the all-important question is, of course: Is it safe? It certainly seems so. “Safety is always the main concern when introducing any medical innovation. We tested the hydrogel films on human cells and found them to be safe, as more than 90% of the cells survived various concentrations,” Raza said.

To sum up, the research provided a new, effective and advanced approach to treating Helicobacter pylori infections by delivering antibiotics locally in the stomach over a prolonged time, instead of exposing the whole body to large amounts of antibiotics.

“Some limitations remain that should be addressed before considering testing it on patients in a clinical setting, such as validating how effective and exactly how safe it is,” Raza said.

Provided by
UiT The Arctic University of Norway

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