posted on 2022-12-22, 12:38authored byKun Liu, Qiuyue Liu, Jiarong Yang, Chen Xie, Shuanghu Wang, Fei Tong, Junbin Gao, Lu Liu, Yicheng Ye, Bin Chen, Xiaoying Cai, Zhendong Liu, Zeqi Li, Fei Peng, Yingfeng Tu
Diabetes is a metabolic disorder characterized by hyperglycemia
due to defective insulin secretion or its biological dysfunction.
However, frequent subcutaneous injection of insulin often results
in discomfort and local tissue infection. Herein, we demonstrate the
successful fabrication of a mini-tablet system based on self-propelled
micromotors with biocompatibility and biodegradability for oral colon
administration of insulin. The insulin layer is first constructed
onto the surface of a magnesium based micromotor via electrostatic
interactions, followed by a tableting process. The resulting mini-tablets
are then coated with esterified starch with colonic degradation capability,
thus achieving controlled release of the embedded micromotors in the
colon region. In the meantime, autonomous movement of the released
micromotors with a speed up to 76.22 μm·s–1 further results in enhanced colonic uptake and absorption of insulin,
realizing long-term control of blood glucose for more than 5 h. Our
micromotor based mini-tablet system can not only broaden the biomedical
applications of emerging self-propelled micromotors but also offer
an appealing strategy for oral administration of biomacromolecular
drugs represented by insulin.