(MENAFN) Chinese researchers have successfully developed the world’s first method for delivering insulin non-invasively through the skin, achieving a blood sugar-lowering effect comparable to traditional insulin injections.

The breakthrough could allow diabetes patients to avoid long-term syringe use, reducing the inconvenience of frequent injections, according to Chinese state media. Details of the approach were recently published in the journal Nature, as reported by a news agency, citing China Science Daily.

The method uses transdermal drug delivery, a painless technique currently applied to some small-molecule drugs by applying a formulation directly to intact, healthy skin. However, the skin’s natural barrier has historically prevented larger molecules, such as insulin, from penetrating effectively.

In preliminary research, a team led by Shen Youqing, a professor at Zhejiang University’s College of Chemical and Biological Engineering and co-corresponding author of the paper, identified a polymer called OP. The polymer exhibited high permeability in tumor tissues and successfully delivered anti-tumor drugs.

“From then, we wondered whether OP could also efficiently permeate skin tissues,” Shen said.

Subsequent experiments confirmed that OP could indeed penetrate the skin, “shattering the conventional understanding that macromolecules cannot penetrate the skin barrier,” he added.

The team, collaborating with science groups led by Zhou Ruhong at Zhejiang University and Chen Rongjun at Imperial College London, systematically identified the specific pathways and mechanisms that allow OP to pass through the skin efficiently.

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