Relationship between the solution thermodynamic properties of naproxen in organic solvents and its release profiles from PLGA microspheres

Qualification of Non-Halogenated Organic Solvents Applied to Microsphere Manufacturing Process

As a non-halogenated dispersed solvent, ethyl acetate has been most commonly used for the manufacturing of poly-d,l-lactide-co-glycolide (PLGA) microspheres. However, ethyl acetate-based microencapsulation processes face several limitations. This study was aimed at proposing ethyl formate as an alternative. Evaluated in this study was the solvent qualification of ethyl formate and ethyl acetate for microencapsulation of a hydrophobic drug into PLGA microspheres. An oil-in-water emulsion solvent extraction technique was developed to load progesterone into PLGA microspheres. Briefly, right after emulsion droplets were temporarily stabilized, they were subject to primary solvent extraction. Appearing semisolid, embryonic microspheres were completely hardened through subsequent secondary solvent extraction. Changes in process parameters of the preparative technique made it possible to manipulate the properties of emulsion droplets, progesterone behavior, and microsphere quality. Despite the two solvents showing comparable Hansen solubility parameter distances toward PLGA, ethyl formate surpassed ethyl acetate in relation to volatility and water miscibility. These features served as advantages in the microsphere manufacturing process, helping produce PLGA microspheres with better quality in terms of drug crystallization, drug encapsulation efficiency, microsphere size homogeneity, and residual solvent content. The present ethyl formate-based preparative technique could be an attractive method of choice for the production of drug-loaded PLGA microspheres.

Understanding Drug Release Data through Thermodynamic Analysis

Understanding the factors that can modify the drug release profile of a drug from a Drug-Delivery-System (DDS) is a mandatory step to determine the effectiveness of new therapies. The aim of this study was to assess the Amphotericin-B (AmB) kinetic release profiles from polymeric systems with different compositions and geometries and to correlate these profiles with the thermodynamic parameters through mathematical modeling. Film casting and electrospinning techniques were used to compare behavior of films and fibers, respectively. Release profiles from the DDSs were performed, and the mathematical modeling of the data was carried out. Activation energy, enthalpy, entropy and Gibbs free energy of the drug release process were determined. AmB release profiles showed that the relationship to overcome the enthalpic barrier was PVA-fiber > PVA-film > PLA-fiber > PLA-film. Drug release kinetics from the fibers and the films were better fitted on the Peppas-Sahlin and Higuchi models, respectively. The thermodynamic parameters corroborate these findings, revealing that the AmB release from the evaluated systems was an endothermic and non-spontaneous process. Thermodynamic parameters can be used to explain the drug kinetic release profiles. Such an approach is of utmost importance for DDS containing insoluble compounds, such as AmB, which is associated with an erratic bioavailability.

Porous silicon oxide-PLGA composite microspheres for sustained ocular delivery of daunorubicin

A water-soluble anthracycline antibiotic drug (daunorubicin, DNR) was loaded into oxidized porous silicon (pSiO2) microparticles and then encapsulated with a layer of polymer (poly lactide-co-glycolide, PLGA) to investigate their synergistic effects in control of DNR release. Similarly fabricated PLGA-DNR microspheres without pSiO2, and pSiO2 microparticles without PLGA were used as control particles. The composite microparticles synthesized by a solid-in-oil-in-water emulsion method have mean diameters of 52.33±16.37μm for PLGA-pSiO2_21/40-DNR and the mean diameter of 49.31±8.87μm for PLGA-pSiO2_6/20-DNR. The mean size, 26.00±8μm, of PLGA-DNR was significantly smaller, compared with the other two (P<0.0001). Optical microscopy revealed that PLGA-pSiO2-DNR microspheres contained multiple pSiO2 particles. In vitro release experiments determined that control PLGA-DNR microspheres completely released DNR within 38days and control pSiO2-DNR microparticles (with no PLGA coating) released DNR within 14days, while the PLGA-pSiO2-DNR microspheres released DNR for 74days. Temporal release profiles of DNR from PLGA-pSiO2 composite particles indicated that both PLGA and pSiO2 contribute to the sustained release of the payload. The PLGA-pSiO2 composite displayed a more constant rate of DNR release than the pSiO2 control formulation, and displayed a significantly slower release of DNR than either the PLGA or pSiO2 formulations. We conclude that this system may be useful in managing unwanted ocular proliferation when formulated with antiproliferation compounds such as DNR.

Applicability of non-halogenated methyl propionate to microencapsulation

Applicability of methyl propionate to microencapsulation was evaluated with regard to volatility, capability of forming emulsions, and their quality. An emulsion-based technique was then developed to encapsulate progesterone into poly-d,l-lactide-co-glycolide microspheres. Their characteristics were compared with those prepared using ethyl acetate. Our results demonstrated that methyl propionate had greater evaporative tendency and less water miscibility than ethyl acetate did. The former allowed us to prepare good microspheres. Their average volume mean diameter was 68.3 ± 1.7 μm with a span index of 0.91 ± 0.13. Progesterone did not undergo polymorphic transition during microencapsulation, and its encapsulation efficiency ranged from 41.80 ± 1.83 to 85.64 ± 1.95%. Residual methyl propionate in various microspheres was found to be 0.97 ± 0.03 to 1.54 ± 0.07%. Such microsphere characteristics were quite similar to those prepared by the ethyl acetate-based microencapsulation process. Overall, our findings reflect that methyl propionate has a potential to become an invaluable solvent for microencapsulation.