Comparison of drug release from poly(lactide-co-glycolide) microspheres and novel fibre formulations

Intraperitoneal cisplatin delivery has recently been shown to benefit ovarian cancer patients. Cisplatin-containing poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) microspheres have been proposed for cisplatin delivery. The drug loading of cisplatin containing microspheres produced elsewhere is 3–10%w. Similar microspheres are reported here with a mean diameter of 38.8 µm, and a drug loading of 11.7%w, but using ethyl acetate as a safer solvent. In addition, novel formulations of cisplatin-containing solid and hollow PLGA 65:35 (lactide:glycolide) fibres were prepared and are reported here for the first time. PLGA hollow fibres were produced by phase inversion with a high drug loading of 27%w. Mechanistic mathematical models were applied to the cisplatin release profiles to allow quantitative comparison of microsphere, solid fibre and hollow fibre formulations. The diffusion coefficient of cisplatin eluting from a typical batch of PLGA microspheres was 4.8 x 10–13 cm2 s–1; this low diffusivity of cisplatin in microspheres was caused by the low porosity of the polymer matrix. The diffusion coefficients of cisplatin eluting from a batch of PLGA solid fibres and hollow fibres were 6.1 x 10–10 and 3.3 x 10–10 cm2 s–1, respectively. These fibres allowed the controlled release of high doses of cisplatin over four days and may represent an improvement in slow release technology for treatment of ovarian cancer.
Source: Journal of Biomaterials Applications - Category: Materials Science Authors: Tags: Nanotechnology in Biomaterials Source Type: research