Bioactive insulin microparticles produced by supercritical fluid assisted atomization with an enhanced mixer

Supercritical fluid assisted atomization introduced by a hydrodynamic cavitation mixer (SAA–HCM) was used to micronize insulin from aqueous solution without use of any organic solvents. Insulin microparticles produced under different operating conditions including solution type, solution concentration and precipitator temperature presented distinct morphologies such as highly folded, partly deflated, corrugated or smooth hollow spherical shape. Solution concentration had a striking influence on particle size, and insulin microparticles produced from acidic solution had mean diameters increasing from 1.4 μm to 2.7 μm when protein concentration increased from 3 g/L to 50 g/L. HPLC chromatograms showed no degradation of insulin after SAA–HCM processing and FTIR, CD and fluorescence data further confirmed the structural stability. TGA analysis revealed that insulin microparticles remained moderate moisture content compared with raw material. In vivo study showed that insulin processed by SAA–HCM from acidic solution retained identical bioactivity. SAA–HCM is demonstrated to be a very promising process for insulin inhaled formulation development.