The Production and Evaluation of Orally Administered Insulin Nanoparticles

Abstract

In an attempt to overcome the proteolytic degradation and poor absorption of orally administered insulin, nanoparticles were made from insulin. These 200 nm particles were made from a Neutral insulin Injection (Actrapid, Novo) by desolvation and crosslinking with glutaraldehyde. The purified nanoparticles were found to be absorbed from the intestinal tract of mice as well as normal and diabetic rats. The blood glucose concentrations in some animals could be reduced to about 15 to 20? of the starting level, 3 hours after administration of between 35 and 70 mg of nanoparticles per 100 g body weight. The nanoparticles appear to exert a slower but more pronounced response than similarly administered Actrapid although no dose response relationship was established. The doses of nanoparticles needed preclude the development of a commercially viable product.