ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the oral delivery of insulin through a hybrid polymeric hydrogel. It discusses the types of insulin, various techniques to prepare hybrid polymeric hydrogels, different methods of delivery, and the properties of potential hydrogels. Hydrogels are hydrophilic cross-linked macromolecular polymeric gels that are able to hold large quantities of water within their three-dimensional network structure. In the microemulsion method, inorganic particles with sizes in the nanometer range are obtained with minimum agglomeration. Thermosensitive nanogels are conventionally prepared by precipitation polymerization. When the polymerization temperature of the N-isopropyl acrylamide–based polymers exceeds the lower critical solution temperature, the growing chains of the N-isopropyl acrylamide collapse on reaching the critical length. The “living” radical polymerization or surface-initiated controlled polymerization technique provides a potential route to prepare organic, inorganic core-shell hybrid nanoparticles possessing the ability to control the shell structure and thickness.
