Abstract:
The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of preparation
techniques based on solvent evaporation method and of formulation parameters on the
characteristics of poly(lactide-co-glycolide)(PLGA)-based microparticles.
Dexamethasone sodium phosphate (DSP) and carbamazepine were used as model
drugs. The microparticles were characterized mainly for encapsulation efficiency,
morphology and in vitro release. DSP-loaded PLGA microparticles were prepared by
three modifications of aqueous (solid-in-oil-in-water (S/O/W), oil-in-water co-solvent
(O/W co-solvent), water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W)) and two modifications of nonaqueous
(solid-in-oil-in-oil (S/O/O) and oil-in-oil co-solvent (O/O co-solvent)) solvent
evaporation methods. Encapsulation of highly water soluble DSP by non-aqueous
methods resulted in > 90 % encapsulation efficiencies. The encapsulation efficiencies
increased from approx. 50 % to 90 % upon addition of NaCl to the external aqueous
phase for microparticles prepared by O/W co-solvent and W/O/W methods, whereas
the lower encapsulation efficiencies of about 50 % were still obtained with S/O/W
method. The release of DSP microparticles depended strongly on the preparation
techniques. For microparticles prepared by aqueous methods, the DSP released was
biphasic, an initial burst release followed by a slower release phase. The extent of the
individual phase was dependent on the polymer molecular weight. The extent of the
initial release phase correlated well with the porosity of microparticles. In case of O/O
co-solvent method, the substantial amount of DSP ranged from 60 - 92 % was released
within the first hour. This high burst release was attributed to the uneven distribution
of drug within the polymer matrix. For carbamazepine-loaded PLGA microparticles,
O/W and O/O solvent evaporation methods were used. O/W method yielded the higher
encapsulation efficiencies (80 - 90 %) as compared to O/O method (50 - 70 %). The
release of carbamazepine microparticles was characterized by a continuous release
without an initial burst. No difference in the release behaviors of microparticles
prepared by both methods was observed. This finding was due to the similarity of the
physical state of carbamazepine within PLGA microparticles and of the microstructure
of microparticles obtained from both methods.