Temporary tattoos that release medicine into the body could soon treat chronic medical conditions such as MS
The black inking, which fades after a week, allows drugs to remain in the system for longer than if they were injected
A TEMPORARY tattoo which slowly releases medicine to help control chronic diseases such as multiple sclerosis could soon be available.
The black inking, which fades after a week, allows drugs to remain in the system for longer than if they were injected.
The tattoo contains nanoparticles which stop white blood T-cells attacking healthy tissue.
Dr Christine Beeton, of Texas’s Baylor College, said the black mark should not be a problem.
She explained: “I can see doing this for a child who wants a tattoo and could never get her parents to go along.”
The only downside scientists found was it marked the skin, but with imagination the new drug delivery system could be made into body art such as cartoons for children.
Scientists at Baylor College of Medicine tested antioxidant nanoparticles created at Rice University and found they were taken up by cells in the immune system.
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The study published in Scientific Reports noted T and B lymphocyte cells and macrophages are key components of the immune system.
In many autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, T cells are the key players.
But one suspected cause is that T cells lose their ability to distinguish between invaders and healthy tissue and attack both.
Since the macrophages and other splenic immune cells are unaffected, most of a patient’s existing immune system remains intact.
Beeton said: "You want a drug that’s in the system long enough to be effective, but not so long that, if you have a problem, you can’t remove it.”