Diabetes is one of the most devastating global diseases with an ever-increasing number of patients. Achieving persistent glycemic control in a painless and convenient way is an unmet goal for diabetes management. Insulin therapy is commonly utilized for diabetes treatment and usually relies on patient self-injection. This not only impairs a patient’s quality of life and fails to precisely control the blood glucose level but also brings the risk of life-threatening hypoglycemia. “closed-loop” insulin delivery systems could avoid these issues by providing on-demand insulin delivery. However, safety concerns limit the application of currently developed electronics-derived or enzyme-based systems. Phenylboronic acid (PBA), with the ability to reversibly bind glucose and a chemically tailored binding specificity, has attracted substantial attention in recent years. This focus review provides an overview of PBA-based versatile insulin delivery platforms developed in our group, including new PBA derivatives, glucose-responsive gels, and gel-combined medical devices, with a unique “skin layer” controlled diffusion feature.

糖尿病是最具破坏性的全球疾病之一，患者人数不断增加。以无痛和方便的方式实现持续的血糖控制是糖尿病管理尚未实现的目标。胰岛素疗法通常用于糖尿病治疗，通常依赖于患者自我注射。这不仅会损害患者的生活质量，无法精确控制血糖水平，还会带来危及生命的低血糖风险。“闭环”胰岛素输送系统可以通过提供按需胰岛素输送来避免这些问题。然而，安全问题限制了当前开发的电子衍生或基于酶的系统的应用。苯硼酸 (PBA)，具有可逆结合葡萄糖的能力和化学定制的结合特异性，近年来引起了广泛关注。这篇重点综述概述了我们小组开发的基于 PBA 的多功能胰岛素递送平台，包括新的 PBA 衍生物、葡萄糖反应凝胶和凝胶组合医疗器械，具有独特的“皮肤层”控制扩散功能。