The U.S. Department of Defense Combat Feeding Program at the U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center (Natick), Natick, MA, is currently funding a project to develop the Transdermal Nutrient Delivery System (TDNDS), a nutrition patch designed for soldiers. Adhered to the skin, the patch, which is similar to a nicotine patch, would transmit vitamins and other nutrients to the soldiers to help sustain their physical and mental performance while in the field.

According to Natick, soldiers in the future may spend substantial amounts of time encapsulated in protective garments or in vehicles with limited access to normal meals. In addition, during periods of intense activity and combat situations replenishment of nutrients found in foods is needed while using a method that’s controllable and not invasive. If all goes according to plan, the TDNDS could reduce combat-related stress, muscle fatigue, joint aches and the physical problems that accompany prolonged exposure to cold weather and high altitudes.

Research for the project is being carried out by The National Nutraceutical Center, Clemson, SC, which is a consortium of researchers from Clemson University, Rutgers University, South Carolina School of Medicine and South Carolina School of Public Health. The National Nutraceutical Center was awarded a $900,000 grant from the Defense Department to carry out the study over the course of three years. A year and a half into place, the Defense Department is most concerned with finding nutraceuticals that reduce fatigue and enhance mental alertness, according to Dave Gangemi, Ph.D., executive director of the National Nutraceutical Center. “Soldiers carry a lot of equipment for long periods of time and get extremely tired as a result,” he said. “The Defense Department wanted to know which nutraceuticals could help reduce stress and fatigue to help troop recover quicker, and which nutraceuticals could help them stay alert for longer periods of time. As such, the Defense Department asked for a proposal to develop novel screening assays, which could predict potential nutraceuticals that might be effective in this regard.”

In the first phase of the study, immunologists Abdul Ghaffar, Ph.D., and Eugene Mayer, Ph.D., from the South Carolina School of Medicine, worked with a cell culture system containing human white blood cells in order to characterize thousands of substances tested as either being inflammatory or anti-inflammatory in nature.At the next level, Mark Davis, Ph.D., an exercise physiologist at the South Carolina School of Public Health, would use the selected anti-inflammatory substances in animal tests to see if they could reduce fatigue and incresase alertness in mice. Lastly, the third phase involves Bozena Mishniak, Ph.D, an expert in the transdermal delivery of drugs from Rutgers University. Her job is to take the substances, which have been selected from phase two for their potential ability to prevent fatigue and increase mental alertness and look at their potential to penetrate the skin through transdermal delivery.

A variety of compounds have been evaluated to date. To name a few, caffeine derived from coffee plants has been looked at for its ability to increase physical and mental alertness, while echinacea and turmeric have been reviewed for their anti-inflammatory qualities. Dr. Gangemi said that so far echinacea and astragalus have yielded the most interesting results. In addition to the TDNDS, Dr. Gangemi said that Dr. Mishniak is also looking at delivering nutrients through the buccal route, or by mouth, in the form of a gum or gel. Although the center is not funded to perform human clinicals, Dr. Gangemi said that when they go in for the renewal of the grant, which runs dry at the end of 2004, they will talk about the potential to go forward with human trials.

Looking into the future, Dr. Gangemi commented that the real aim of this kind of technology is to one day be able to develop these delivery systems so that they are electonically controlled. The future TDNDS could possibly consist of a microchip processor to respond to sensors that monitor a soldier’s metabolism and nutritional requirements, which would trigger a microelectrical mechanical system to transmit the appropriate nutrients to the body. “This is a very real concept, but we’re a long way off,” said Dr. Gangemi. “Before that ever happens, we first have to know what nutrients can be delivered. We’re a good eight to 10 years away from patches sophisticated enough to use and a good 15-20 years away from electronically controlled devices.”-T.W.