Hydrogel: very long lasting levodopa
 

A hydrogel is like a stronger version of jelly. More formally [1]:

"Hydrogels are three-dimensional, polymeric networks consisting of crosslinked hydrophilic components. In certain environmental conditions, hydrogels can imbibe large amounts of water or biological fluids, while remaining insoluble."

They are excellent at soaking up a suitable drug and releasing it slowly.

The only reference that I can find to hydrogels and Parkinson's is in a paper by Kondaveeti et al. [2]. Unfortunately, this is behind a paywall. But, from what I can gather, "levodopa is loaded into magnetic hydrogels". This is then released "under external magnetic field".

Even without a magnetic effect, they draw a graph showing one of their gels delivering levodopa almost constantly for over a day.

In my view, there would be considerable advantage in having a very slow delivery method for levodopa (that is, a long half-life), not because it might be more convenient, but because it might smooth out the peaks and troughs of plasma levodopa. This could reduce dyskinesia and/or allow PwP to take larger doses of levodopa without increasing the risk of dyskinesia.

Reference:

[1] "Therapeutic applications of hydrogels in oral drug delivery"
Lindsey A Sharpe,1 Adam M Daily,1 Sarena D Horava,2 and Nicholas A Peppas
Expert Opin Drug Deliv, 2014
Therapeutic applications of hydrogels in oral drug delivery

[2] "Magnetic hydrogels for levodopa release and cell stimulation triggered by external magnetic field"
Stalin Kondaveeti, Ana Teresa, Silva Semeano, Daniel R.Cornejo, Henning Ulrich, Denise Freitas Siqueira Petria
Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces
Volume 167, 1 July 2018, Pages 415-424
Magnetic hydrogels for levodopa release and cell stimulation triggered by external magnetic field - ScienceDirect

John

John,
I can only offer general thoughts but this is interesting. Lately I've been learning about the trouble "biofilms" cause in the body and elsewhere...a biofilm develops for example in a pets' watering bowl (if not cleaned often) - it is that slick icky feeling microfilm surface that collects bacteria etc. Would our epithelial linings rom our nose to our intestines be especially subject to develloping these??If so they must wreak havoc on the immune system amongst other things. I also see a sort of crust like surface that develops in garden soils that prevent water absorption.

Imho when it comes to nutrient, absorption, can be more significant than intake in terms of revealing what can be effective.


Kind Regards,
MD

Speaking of magnetic fields and water absorption redox potential comes to mind.... How to measure a Redox Potential – The Laboratory People