Sustained-release carriers of insulin:applications and existing problems / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:Sustained-release carriers of insulin shaped as microspheres made of different biomaterials have become an issue of concern. OBJECTIVE:To summarize the carrier materials and methods to prepare sustained-release microspheres of insulin. METHODS:Wanfang and PubMed databases were retrieved by computer for articles related to sustained-release carriers of insulin published from 1997 to 2015. The search terms were“insulin, control ed-release carrier, biomaterials”in Chinese and English, respectively. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Natural biodegradable polymer materials are preferred to prepare sustained-release microspheres of insulin, including gelatin, alginate, chitosan and its derivatives. These natural materials have good biocompatibility, degradability, film-forming and microsphere-forming abilities. Synthetic biodegradable polymer materials as carrier materials can promote drug stability and effective utilization, and realize targeted drug delivery. According to different physicochemical properties of materials, sustained-release carriers of insulin that meet different requirements can be prepared using emulsion-chemical crosslinking, spray drying and solvent evaporation methods. This review provides new insight into the development of stable drug carriers.