Enhanced cutaneous wound healing in rats following topical delivery of insulin-loaded nanoparticles embedded in poly(vinyl alcohol)-borate hydrogels

Insulin plays an important role in the wound healing process, but its method of delivery to the wound bed and subsequent effect on rate of healing is less well investigated. In this study, we evaluated the therapeutic effectiveness of topical human insulin delivery using a nanoparticulate delivery system suspended in a structured hydrogel vehicle. Poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) nanoparticles (NP) of 202.6 nm diameter and loaded with 33.86 μg insulin per milligram of polymer were formulated using a modified double-emulsion solvent evaporation technique and dispersed in a dilatant hydrogel (poly(vinyl alcohol)-borate). Importantly, this hydrogel formulation was used to achieve ultimate contact with the wound bed. A comparison of wound healing rates following local administration of insulin in the free and nanoencapsulated forms was performed in diabetic and healthy rats. In non-diabetic rats, there was no significant difference between healing observed in control and wounds treated with free insulin (p > 0.05), whereas treatment with insulin encapsulated within PLGA NP showed a significant difference (p < 0.001). In diabetic cohorts, both free insulin and nanoencapsulated insulin induced significant improvement in wound healing when compared to controls, with better percentage wound injury indices observed with the colloidal formulation. At day 10 of the experiment, the difference between percentage wound injury indices of insulin-PLGA NP and free insulin comparing to their controls were 29.15 and 12.16%, respectively. These results support strongly the potential of insulin-loaded colloidal carriers for improved wound healing when delivered using dilatant hydrogel formulations.