Oral insulin: A review on its current condition and future aspects

Abstract

Objectives: Diabetes mellitus is a serious pathologic condition that is responsible for major healthcare problems worldwide and costing billions of dollars annually. Oral insulin is one of the most exciting areas of development in the treatment of diabetes because of its potential benefit in patient convenience, rapid insulinization of liver, adequate insulin delivery avoiding peripheral hyper insulinaemia while potentially avoiding adverse effects of weight gain and hypoglycaemia. Methods: Several methods from relevant literature evaluated and their properties, advantages and limitations noted. Results: Current review includes categorized methods which are used to optimize insulin for oral application. This review summarizes various oral insulin delivery systems. Conclusion: Because of the insulin delivery problems, novel approaches for insulin delivery are being explored, including oral drug delivery. For several decades, researchers have tried to develop oral insulin using various technologies without much clinical or commercial success.