ABSTRACT
The use of drug delivery systems (DDS) based on lipid matrices is useful for the delivery of anti-diabetic drugs. Since the peptide suffers denaturation under gastric pH and enzymatic proteolysis, it cannot be administered oral. In addition, the gut has low permeability for large biomolecules. Nowadays, the only treatment for diabetes is the subcutaneous injection of insulin. Subcutaneous administration is reported as a problematic route because of low patient compliance and lipoatrophy in local injection. DDS composed of lipids provide alternative routes, such as oral and pulmonary, to overcome the traditional subcutaneous injection of insulin. This strategy allows the delivery enhancement and the stabilization of the incorporated drug, which leads
to a higher bioavailability. The lipids used are physiological preventing toxicological reactions. DDS based on a lipid matrix include solid lipid nanoparticles, composed of solid lipids only; nanostructures lipid carriers, similar to solid lipid nanoparticles, but composed of a liquid lipid and a solid lipid; lipid drug conjugates that are composed of lipids, usually fatty acids with esters; phospholipid micelles composed of phospholipids but represent sterically stabilized micelles; liposomes are composed by one or more phospholipid bilayers and self-emulsifying drug delivery systems are composed also of lipids (liquids or solids) that creat microemulsions. These DDS have already been tested for the treatment of diabetes and appear to be good alternatives to the traditional injection.
