Various Emerging Trends in Insulin Drug Delivery Systems (original) (raw)
2015, British Journal of Pharmaceutical Research
Lowering of blood glucose level in patients can be achieved by insulin therapy as it plays a key role in the control of hyperglycaemia for type 1 diabetes. Insulin delivery systems that are currently available include syringes, infusion pumps, jet injectors and pens. The tedious part for the type 1 diabetes patients is to tolerate needle after needle injections while undergoing treatment for both glucose measurement and to deliver insulin. A rigorous research effort has been undertaken worldwide to replace the authentic subcutaneous route by a more accurate and non-invasive route. The newer methods explored include the artificial pancreas with closed-loop system, transdermal insulin, and buccal, oral, pulmonary, nasal, ocular and rectal routes. The future trends include use of insulin inhalers, trandermal patches, pills, pumps etc. Some of the non-invasive delivery systems include polymeric hydrogels and insulin loaded bioadhesive poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) nanoparticles for oral delivery, aerosolized liposomes with dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine for pulmonary delivery, β cyclodextrins for nasal delivery, microneedle arrays fabricated from hyaluronic acid and iontophoresis for trandermal delivery, chitosan-zinc-insulin complex for the controlled delivery of insulin.