Ever wondered why orally-administered drugs for diabetes work for some people but not for others? According to researchers, including one of Indian origin, bacteria that make up the gut microbiome might be the reason.
The study, from the Wake Forest University in the US, examined how gut bacteria either enhanced or inhibited a drug's effectiveness.
According to Hariom Yadav, Assistant Professor from the varsity,
Examining interactions between the most commonly prescribed anti-diabetic drugs with the microbiome, the team found that before being absorbed into the bloodstream, many orally-administered drugs are processed by intestinal microbial enzymes.
As a result, the gut microbiome influences the metabolism of the drugs, thereby affecting patients' responses, Yadav said, in the paper published in the journal EBioMedicine.
"We believe that differences in an individual's microbiome help explain why drugs will show a 90 or 50 per cent optimum efficacy, but never 100 per cent," he noted.
Importantly, modulation of the gut microbiome by drugs may represent a target to improve, modify or reverse the effectiveness of current medications for Type-2 diabetes, the researchers noted.
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