In vitro andin vivo characterization of a coronary stent coated with an elastic biodegradable polymer for the sustained release of paclitaxel

Fabrication and characterization of shape memory polymers based bioabsorbable biomedical drug eluting stent

Present investigation deals with, tacrolimus eluting, self-expandable, biodegradable stent fabricated by solvent casting method. The design was based on shape memory polymers, which possess the ability to memorize temporary shape that can substantially differ from their initial permanent shape. A set of biodegradable polymers blend was used such as poly-lactic acid (PLA) and poly-l-glycolic acid (PLGA) to study the shape memory effect of polymer. The prepared stent was assessed for various parameters like Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), In-vitro and Ex vivo expansion, Drug content, In-vitro drug release, Haemocompatibility, Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Textural Characterization.

Investigation of aqueous stability of taxol in different release media

In the present study, the aqueous stability of taxol in different aqueous media and immiscible aqueous/organic systems at 37 °C was investigated. The aqueous media included phosphate buffered saline (PBS) and PBS containing 10% methanol, 10% ethanol, 10% hydroxypropyl β-cyclodextrin (HP-βCD), 1% sodium citrate and 1% Tween 80. The immiscible systems consisted of PBS/octanol, PBS/dichloromethane, PBS/chloroform and PBS/ethyl acetate. The concentrations of taxol and related derivatives in each of the media were determined through the high-performance liquid chromatography assay. Results showed that hydrolysis and epimerization were two major types of degradation for taxol in the aqueous media starting from the initial hours of contact (6 hours). Addition of Tween 80 to PBS moderately increased the aqueous stability of taxol. As well, using PBS containing 10% HP-βCD inhibited the taxol hydrolysis, while epimerization still in process. In the case of immiscible systems, except for PBS/ethyl acetate system, no evidences of taxol hydrolysis were observed. Meanwhile, epimerization of taxol in PBS/dichloromethane and PBS/chloroform systems underwent due to the ability of C-Cl bonds to form hydrogen bonding with the hydroxyl group of C7 of taxol.