Study the effect of insulin-loaded trimethylchitosan nanoparticles on HepG2 cell line

The in vitro effects of insulin-loaded trimethyl chitosan nanoparticles (nano-insulin) in HepG2 cells were explored in this study. Its toxicity, along with glucomodulatory effects, was measured to evaluate its potential at the cellular level. Different concentrations of insulin and nano-insulin were evaluated on HepG2 cultured cells to study their effects on viability, cell cycle and cell apoptosis followed by Real-time PCR analysis of pyruvate kinase gene expression. In the study of cell viability and morphology, there was no significant difference in the survival and cell apoptosis rate between the insulin and nano-insulin groups. The results of the cell cycle and apoptosis showed the appropriate growth of the cell under treatment with nano-insulin as well as insulin, which indicates the effectiveness and non-toxicity of the nano-insulin form. Moreover, significant upregulated gene expression of pyruvate kinase with both treatments showed a proper and similar effect of nano-insulin with natural insulin. The results of this study, showed the effectiveness of insulin-loaded trimethyl chitosan and its ability to increase gene expression of a regulatory enzyme in the metabolism of glucose in the liver cells. •The study showed potential effects of nano-insulin both in vivo and in vitro.•Oral form of nano-insulin could control blood glucose and oxidative stress.•Nano-insulin provides promising prospects for the treatment of diabetes mellitus.