Sci颅en颅tists have long known that food diges颅tion affects the way the body absorbs var颅ious compounds鈥攆rom nutri颅ents to drugs and toxins.

鈥淵ou can get mul颅tiple hun颅dreds of per颅cent improve颅ment in bioavail颅ability if you dose a com颅pound in the pres颅ence of a high fat mol颅e颅cule,鈥� said Rebecca Car颅rier, an asso颅ciate pro颅fessor of chem颅ical engi颅neering at North颅eastern University.

The problem with that approach, how颅ever, is that its unpre颅dictability pre颅vents doc颅tors from using that knowl颅edge to reduce drug dosages and improve drug delivery. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 know when it鈥檚 going to happen and when it鈥檚 not going to happen,鈥� Car颅rier explained. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not amenable to any form of quan颅ti颅ta颅tive pre颅dic颅tion at this point.鈥�

But that may soon change.

Car颅rier has recently received a $1.8 mil颅lion grant from the National Insti颅tutes of Health with the hope of under颅standing the mech颅a颅nisms behind this phe颅nom颅enon. 鈥淲e want to develop pre颅dic颅tive models for how ingested lipids, or fat mol颅e颅cules, change the way your body absorbs dif颅ferent com颅pounds,鈥� she said.

Drugs and nutri颅ents, such as vit颅amin B6, are often insol颅uble in water. Since approx颅i颅mately 50 to 65 per颅cent of the adult body is made up of water, these com颅pounds have a hard time making their way into the blood stream. When lipids are nearby, they engulf these com颅pounds and increase their solubility.

As Car颅rier put it, 鈥淲hen you ingest some颅thing, it changes the envi颅ron颅ment that the drug mol颅e颅cule sees.鈥�

The project will ben颅efit from the exper颅tise of two other North颅eastern fac颅ulty members鈥擬ansoor Amiji, Dis颅tin颅guished Pro颅fessor and Chair of the Depart颅ment of Phar颅ma颅ceu颅tical Sci颅ences, and David Budil, asso颅ciate pro颅fessor of chem颅istry and chem颅ical biology and asso颅ciate dean for research in the Col颅lege of Sci颅ence.

Amiji will assist the Car颅rier group with under颅standing the rela颅tion颅ship between lab颅o颅ra颅tory results and phe颅nomena in the body. Budil, for his part, will use his exper颅tise in chem颅ical analysis to help Car颅rier track the loca颅tion of the body鈥檚 drug molecules.

Budil鈥檚 work will examine the body鈥檚 overall absorp颅tion of drugs, but the phe颅nom颅enon is a cul颅mi颅na颅tion of many dif颅ferent fac颅tors, including gas颅troin颅testinal mucus.

Exploring the prop颅er颅ties of the GI mucus bar颅rier is the focus of another of Carrier鈥檚 projects, which is being sup颅ported by a dif颅ferent NIH grant. Car颅rier noted that the prop颅er颅ties of the GI mucus bar颅rier 鈥渁re sig颅nif颅i颅cantly mod颅u颅lated by stimuli asso颅ci颅ated with eating.鈥�

鈥淕I mucus is a very inter颅esting hydrogel,鈥� she added. 鈥淚t is able to pro颅tect you from this crazy envi颅ron颅ment of mil颅lions and mil颅lions of microor颅gan颅isms yet effi颅ciently allows absorp颅tion of all the com颅pounds you need.鈥�