Researchers use E-tongue, an AI model, to predict bitterness of medicines

A team of UK researchers used an ldquoelectric tonguerdquo and an artificial intelligence AI model to predict the bitterness of drugsTaste is key to making sure people regularly take their medications and is an important part of drug development For example taste has been identified as the biggest barrier in compliance for children taking medicine but taste is also an issue for adults especially adults taking longterm medication such as for HIVThe team from University College London UCL used an etongue a device made of sensors responding to taste to assign bitterness scores to medicines and in turn estimate the aversiveness expected from the clinical dose plannedThe etongue measures how much the bitter molecules stick on a plastic sensor that acts like the human tongue and then it compares it with a clear sample The difference between the two measurements represents a theoretical bitterness level of a medicineUsing an etongue means drugs can be tested more quickly and effectively compared to the alternative option of conducting a human trial But the team collaborated with machine learning experts to speed up drug development further using an AI modelUsing data from the etongue the AI model breaks down a drug into a series of molecular descriptors eg number of atoms total surface area of the molecule that determine taste in order to predict levels of bitternessThe model being developed will be an open access tool meaning that pharmaceutical development around the world can benefit from the data on palatability of medicines said the researchersldquoWe run a machine learning algorithm to basically see whatrsquos the chemical structure whatrsquos the molecular structure what are the other chemical physical parameters that make it bitter and try to see if therersquos a relationshiprdquo Dr Hend Abdelhakim from UCL Global Business School for Health was quoted as saying to the TelegraphDr Abdelhakim explained that taste in medicines was especially a problem for children who have a ldquoheightened sense of tasterdquoldquoItrsquos a problem for longerterm diseases so for example HIVrdquo explained Dr Abdelhakim ldquoAntiretroviral medicines donrsquot taste very well So if the patient has to take those pills every day for life itrsquos a much bigger problem especially if they start them very very youngldquoEven if itrsquos a wonder drug if the patient doesnrsquot take it it wonrsquot workrdquoTreatment adherence is also particularly important with antibiotics as an interrupted course of treatment will contribute to antimicrobial resistanceldquoWith antibiotics if the patient doesnrsquot take it yes they wonrsquot get better But also yoursquore going to contribute to antimicrobial resistancerdquo said Dr Abdelhakim ldquoItrsquos actually a bigger problem for the rest of usrdquoThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever