Abstract
Insulin is a peptide hormone that is key to regulating physiological glucose levels. Its molecular size and susceptibility to conformational change under physiological pH make it challenging to orally administer insulin in diabetes. The most effective route for insulin delivery remains daily injection. Unfortunately, this results in poor patient compliance and increasing the risk of micro- and macro-vascular complications and thus rising morbidity and mortality rates in diabetics. The use of 3D hydrogels has been used with much interest for various biomedical applications. Hydrogels can mimic the extracellular matrix (ECM) and retain large quantities of water with tunable properties, which renders them suitable for administering a wide range of sensitive therapeutics. Several studies have demonstrated the fixation of insulin within the structural mesh of hydrogels as a bio-scaffold for the controlled delivery of insulin. This review provides a concise incursion into recent developments for the safe and effective controlled delivery of insulin using advanced hydrogel platforms with a special focus on sustained release injectable formulations. Various hydrogel platforms in terms of their methods of synthesis, properties, and unique features such as stimuli responsiveness for the treatment of Type 1 diabetes mellitus are critically appraised. Key criteria for classifying hydrogels are also outlined together with future trends in the field.
Highlights
Insulin is a peptide hormone that is key to regulating physiological glucose levels
Injectable insulin remains the gold standard for type 1 diabetes (T1D) therapy, and much research has concentrated on the design of injectable hydrogel-based systems for the controlled release of insulin [4]
Smart insulin delivery systems that respond to external stimuli and adapt to individual physiological circumstances to provide regulated insulin release are at the forefront of T1D treatment research
Summary
Insulin has a quaternary structure made up of A and B chains and is preserved via Insulin has a quaternary structure made up of A and B chains and is preserved via weak non-covalent bonds. First-pass metabolism usually occurs when insulin is adminweak non-covalent bonds. Insulin enters the portal vein and travels via the small intestine, colon, tered orally. Enters portal vein be and travels via the small intestine, and and spleen to Insulin reach the liver,the where it may metabolized, before entering thecolon, systemic spleen to reach the liver, where it may be metabolized, before entering the systemic circucirculation. This leads to a lower drug bioavailability [13,14]. Insulin, researchers have incorporated the drug into the To mesh structure of the hydrogel.
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