Oral Insulin Delivery in a Physiologic Context: Review

Abstract

Insulin remains indispensable to the treatment of diabetes, but its availability in injectable form only has hampered its timely and broader use. The development of an oral insulin remains an ultimate goal to both enhance ease of use, and to provide therapeutic advantages rooted in its direct delivery to the portal vein and liver. By mimicking the physiological path taken by pancreatic insulin, oral insulin is expected to have a distinct effect on the hepatic aspect of carbohydrate metabolism, hepatic insulin resistance, and, at the same time, avoid hyperinsulinemia and minimize the risk of hypoglycemia. With oral insulin approaching late stages of development, the goal of this review is to examine oral insulin in a physiological context and report on recent progress in its development.