快猫短视频

STRINGS of aspirin molecules linked together in long chains could eliminate
the painkiller鈥檚 nasty effect on the stomach. What鈥檚 more, these chains could be
fashioned into everything from soluble stitches to anti-inflammatory coatings
for pins, screws and other surgical implants.

Millions of people take aspirin to fight headaches, fend off strokes and
heart attacks, and ease the pain of arthritis. But the drug鈥檚 key ingredient,
salicylic acid, is released in the stomach, where it eats away at the
lining.

A polymer made of aspirin, however, should not dissolve until it reaches the
intestine, where the salicylic acid can be absorbed without doing any damage,
says Kathyrn Uhrich of Rutgers University in Piscataway.

Usually, chemists worry that when a polymer breaks down in the body, it will
release toxic substances. 鈥淭his is the first case is which the polymer
degradation products are actually therapeutic,鈥� Uhrich says.

So far, Uhrich and her team have shown they can control the solubility of the
aspirin polymer in test-tube experiments. And when they sewed films of the
material into sutures in the gums of mice, it reduced swelling.

A material that relieves pain and swelling at the site of an injury will be
especially useful, says David Tirrell, a chemist at the California Institute of
Technology in Pasadena. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e using the mechanical properties of the material
to get it where you want it,鈥� he says.