Researchers Discover New Molecule For Monitoring Epilepsy Treatments
Researchers at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland have announced that they have discovered a new molecule-based system for monitoring epilepsy treatments. The scientists have published their research in the Nature Chemical Biology journal. The published paper outlines how the researchers were able to use a new molecule-based system in order to quickly and effectively determine how much of a drug is currently in a patient’s system.
The novel biosensor molecule operates by binding itself to the drug that is traveling through the epilepsy patient’s bloodstream. When the molecule binds itself to the drug, it changes color based on the drug’s concentration. Once the molecule has been introduced into the bloodstream, doctors and patients can then read the signal by taking a drop of the patient’s blood and placing it on a piece of paper. That paper is then placed in a dark box, where the paper is photographed using a conventional camera. The resulting picture can be analyzed with color-measuring software to determine the color’s average calculation. The resulting calculation is then compared to a standard drug concentration curve to determine the concentration of the drug in the patient’s blood.
The researchers said that their molecule can be used on many different kinds of drugs and that the molecule was also tested on immunosuppressants, an anti-arrhythmic therapy, and an anti-cancer treatment, in addition to an anti-epileptic drug. In each case, the molecule proved to be accurate and long lasting.
Rudolf Griss, one of the researchers involved with the study, commented on the results of the molecule’s tests. “This system is a cheap, effective solution for customizing drug dosage in patients across a whole array of diseases. We envision a simple handheld detector where the patient can take a pinprick of blood and can have an immediate reading of free drug concentration in their system – much like diabetics do now for blood glucose,” he said.