Tunable sustained release drug delivery system based on mononuclear aqueous core-polymer shell microcapsules

Abstract Poly( d , l -lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) and poly( d , l -lactide) (PLA) polymers were used successfully in the preparation of polymer shell microcapsules with mononuclear aqueous cores by the internal phase separation method. These microcapsules were prepared with varying amounts of polymer and water and loaded with fluorescein sodium as a model water soluble drug. Evaluation of drug loading and encapsulation efficiency reveals an optimum polymer to water ratio of around 1:3. Prepared PLGA and PLA microcapsules exhibit sustained drug release over 7 and 49 days, respectively. Drug release from both microcapsule types follow zero order kinetics over the first 90% release. Further tuning of release rate is found possible by preparing microcapsules with mixtures of PLGA and PLA polymers at varying ratios. These results suggest that aqueous core-PLGA and PLA microcapsules would be promising platforms for a wide range of sustained drug delivery systems for many hydrophilic drugs.