Insulin-Responsive Glucagon Delivery for Prevention of Hypoglycemia

Hypoglycemia, the state of abnormally low blood glucose level, is an acute complication of insulin and sulfonylurea therapy in diabetes management. Frequent insulin dosing and boluses during daily diabetes care leads to an increased risk of dangerously low glucose levels, which can cause behavioral and cognitive disturbance, seizure, coma, and even death. This study reports an insulin-responsive glucagon delivery method based on a microneedle (MN)-array patch for the prevention of hypoglycemia. The controlled release of glucagon is achieved in response to elevated insulin concentration by taking advantage of the specific interaction between insulin aptamer and target insulin. Integrating a painless MN-array patch, it is demonstrated that this insulin-triggered glucagon delivery device is able to prevent hypoglycemia following a high-dose insulin injection in a chemically induced type 1 diabetic mouse model.