VB12-coated Gel-Core-SLN containing insulin: Another way to improve oral absorption

To improve the oral absorption of insulin, a novel carrier of Vitamin B12 (VB12) gel core solid lipid nanopaticles (Gel-Core-SLN, GCSLN) was designed with a gel core, lipid matrix and VB12-coated surface. VB12-stearate was synthesized and characterized by infrared spectroscopy (IR), nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and mass spectrometry (MS). Sol-gel conversion following ultrasonic heating and double emulsion technology were combined to implant the insulin-containing gel into solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN). The influence of the mode of administration, food, the amount of VB12-stearate and the particle size on the oral absorption of insulin incorporated in the VB12-GCSLN was investigated. The determined partition coefficient (LogP) of VB12-stearate in a dichloromethane (DCM)-water system was 3.4. This new structure of VB12-GCSLN had higher insulin encapsulation efficiency (EE) of 55.9%, a lower burst release of less than 10% in the first 2h. In vivo studies demonstrated that stronger absorption of insulin with a relative pharmacological availability (PA) of 9.31% compared with the normal insulin-loaded SLN and GCSLN and fairly stable blood glucose levels up to 12h were maintained without any sharp fluctuations. This study suggests that VB12-GCSLN containing insulin appears to be a promising nano carrier for oral delivery of biomacromolecules with relatively high pharmacological availability.