Preparation and Characterization of Poly-ε-caprolactone Carrier Particles for Controlled Insulin Delivery

In recent years, with the aid of newer technology, pharmaceutics and formulation engineering has emerged as a fascinating field with applications in diverse areas as drug delivery, biomaterials, drug targeting and nanotechnology. In the pharmaceutical industry, novel drug delivery technologies represent a strategic tool for expanding drug markets. This new technology can address issues associated with current pharmaceuticals, by extending product life or by adding to their performance and acceptability, either by increasing efficacy or improving safety and patient compliance. Protein delivery through microspheres and nanospheres is expected to create innovations and play a critical role not only in drug delivery but also in target-specific drug therapy. Microspheres made of biodegradable polymers are preferred because surgical removal of spent device, as in the case of implants, is not required. Further, there is no possibility of toxicological problems, their release rates can be tailored and they degrade in biological fluids to produce biocompatible or non-toxic products in the body, which are removed by normal physiological pathways. Our present work investigates the method for the efficient encapsulation of insulin in poly-ε-caprolactone microspheres and nanospheres using a water-in-oil-in-water double emulsion solvent evaporation method. The microspheres and nanospheres, thus formed, were characterized for entrapment efficiency, percent yield, particle size analysis, morphological characteristics and the drug release profiles. Our studies showed the successful formulation of smooth spherical poly-ε-caprolactone microspheres and nanospheres encapsulating insulin, thus highlighting them as potential controlled drug delivery systems.