The enhanced encapsulation, release, and oral hypoglycemic performance of a biomacromolecule surface modified insulin-loaded halloysite nanocomposite: an in vitro and in vivo study

Abstract

To overcome the drawbacks of oral administration of insulin, a surface-modified insulin-loaded nanocomposite was designed and prepared in this work. Halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) were employed to improve the insulin encapsulation, PEG-CS and hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose phthalate (HPMCP) were selected to surface modify the insulin-loaded HNTs to adjust the release of insulin. As a result, the insulin-loaded HNTs/PEG-CS/HPMCP NCs had good biocompatibility, relatively high drug loading, and pH-sensitive release properties. Oral administration of the NCs produced an effective and relative long-time hypoglycemic effect. Therefore, these NCs can be a promising delivery system to improve the oral bioavailability of insulin.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Drug encapsulation and delivery
• halloysite nanocomposite
• hypoglycemic effect
• insulin
• surface modification

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

Thanks for the support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52173208), the Major Project of Wuxi Health Commission (Z201702), the Medical Research Project of Jiangsu Provincial Commission of Health and Family Planning (H2018023), the Health Scientific Research Project of Wuxi Municipal Health and Health Commission (Q201942 and M202031), and the Qing Lan Project of Yangzhou University (Dr. LJL).