INEB RECENT PUBLICATIONS: Polymeric nanoparticles for oral insulin delivery: revisited approaches

INEB researchers recently published an article in the Biotechnology Advances, in Press, available online on February 2015. The article is entitled "Polymeric nanoparticles for oral insulin delivery: revisited approaches" and is authored by Pedro Fonte, Francisca Araújo, Cátia Silva, Carla Pereira, Salette Reis, Hélder A. Santos, Bruno Sarmento.

Insulin is commonly used to treat diabetes in order to give patients a better life condition. However, due to bioavailability problems, the most common route of insulin administration is the subcutaneous route, which may present patients compliance problems to treatment. The oral administration is thus considered the most convenient alternative to deliver insulin, but it faces important challenges. Therefore, the encapsulation of insulin into polymer-based nanoparticles is presented as a good strategy to improve insulin oral bioavailability. Thus, the aims of this review are first to provide a deep understanding on the oral delivery of insulin and the possible routes for its uptake, and then to overview the evolution of this field in the last years of research of insulin-loaded polymer-based nanoparticles in the academic and industrial fields. Toxicity concerns of the discussed nanocarriers are also addressed.