Biopolymeric nanocarrier: an auspicious system for oral delivery of insulin

Abstract

Subcutaneous administration of insulin has been practiced for the clinical supervision of diabetes pathogenesis but it is often ineffective to imitate the glucose homeostasis and is always invasive. Therefore, it causes patient discomfort and infection of local tissue. These issues lead to finding an alternative route for insulin delivery that could be effective, promising, and non-invasive. However, delivery of insulin orally is the most suitable route but the rapid breakdown of insulin by the gastrointestinal enzymes becomes a major barrier to this method. Therefore, nanocarriers (which guard insulin against degradation and facilitate its uptake) are preferred for oral insulin delivery. Among various categories of nanocarriers, bio-polymeric nanocarriers draw special attention owing to their hydrophilic, non-toxic, and biodegradable nature. This review provides a detailed overview of insulin-loaded biopolymer-based nanocarriers, which give future direction in the optimization and development of a clinically functional formulation for their effective and safe delivery.

Keywords:

• Insulin
• biopolymers
• nanocarriers
• oral delivery
• safe and effective

Acknowledgements

Authors are grateful to the National Institute of Technology Raipur (CG), India, and Guru GhasidasVishwavidyalaya (A Central University) Bilaspur (CG), India for providing the facility and space for this work.

Authors' contributions

SP: Analysis and Writing manuscript, AK: Conceptualization and finalized manuscript.

Disclosure statement

Authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Funding

The authors have no financing to disclose.