Abstract

ORAL INSULIN AND ITS FUTURE TRENDS

*Shithin Ann Varghese, Dr. Beena P and Dr. Elessy Abraham

ABSTRACT

Diabetes mellitus is a serious pathologic condition that is responsible for major health care problems worldwide and costing billions of dollars annually. Diabetes mellitus is a group of metabolic disorders with a number of etiologies characterized by hyperglycemia along with impairment of carbohydrate, fat and proteins metabolism. It can occur due to an imbalance of insulin secretion, insulin action or both. Diabetes mellitus management is associated with the episodes of hypoglycemia. The hypoglycemia complications are mainly associated in elderly and also in some cases of type I diabetes subjects. Furthermore, prolonged insulin deficiency and longer disease duration increase the risk of hypoglycemia in type II diabetes mellitus. Diabetes and its associated complications are the possible cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. This calls for a firm action in part of its therapeutic potential. Insulin replacement therapy has been used in the clinical management of diabetes mellitus for more than 84 years. The present mode of insulin administration is by subcutaneous route through which insulin is presented to the body in a non-physiological manner having many challenges. Challenges of oral route of administration are: rapid enzymatic degradation in the stomach, inactivation and digestion by proteolytic enzymes in the intestinal lumen and poor permeability across intestinal epithelium because of its molecular weight and lack of lipophilicity. Liposomes, microemulsions, nanocubicles, and forth have been prepared for the oral delivery of insulin. Chitosan-coated microparticles protected insulin from gastric environment of the body and released intestinal PH. Limitations to the delivery of insulin have not been resulted in fruitful results to date and there is still need to prepare newer delivery systems, which can produce dose-dependent and reproducible effects, in addition to increased bioavailability.[1] We haven’t developed a type of oral insulin that can make it through the digestive system unharmed. The acids in our stomach breakdown oral insulin before it can get into the liver. That means it’s not effective by the time it reaches our liver. Furthur, our body has trouble absorbing insulin from our intestines. The mucus layer in our intestines is thick and studies have shown that only low levels of insulin pass through this lining and into your bloodstream. As a result, some researchers believe that high doses of insulin would be needed to be effective in managing diabetes.

Keywords: Liposomes, microemulsions, nanocubicles.