Milk-derived exosomes exhibit versatile effects for improved oral drug delivery

As endogenous courier vesicles, exosomes play crucial roles in macromolecule transmission and intercellular communication. Therefore, exosomes have drawn increasing attention as biomimetic drug-delivery vehicles over the past few years. However, few studies have investigated the encapsulation of peptide/protein drugs into exosomes for oral administration. Additionally, the mechanisms underlying their biomimetic properties as oral delivery vehicles remain unknown. Herein, insulin-loaded milk-derived exosomes (EXO@INS) were fabricated and the in vivo hypoglycemic effect was investigated on type I diabetic rats. Surprisingly, EXO@INS (50 and 30 IU/kg) elicited a more superior and more sustained hypoglycemic effect compared with that obtained with subcutaneously injected insulin. Further mechanism studies indicated that the origin of excellent oral-performance of milk-derived exosomes combined active multi-targeting uptake, pH adaptation during gastrointestinal transit, nutrient assimilation related ERK1/2 and p38 MAPK signal pathway activation and intestinal mucus penetration. This study provides the first demonstration that multifunctional milk-derived exosomes offer solutions to many of the challenges arising from oral drug delivery and thus provide new insights into developing naturally-equipped nanovehicles for oral drug administration.