Controlled release implants based on cast lipid blends

Abstract The aim of this study was to use lipid:lipid blends as matrix formers in controlled release implants. The systems were prepared by melting and casting and thoroughly characterized before and after exposure to the release medium. Based on the experimental results, a mechanistic realistic mathematical model was used to get further insight into the underlying drug release mechanisms. Importantly, broad spectra of drug release patterns could be obtained by simply varying the lipid:lipid blend ratio in implants based on Precirol ATO 5 (glyceryl palmitostearate):Dynasan 120 (hardened soybean oil) mixtures loaded with propranolol hydrochloride. Release periods ranging from a few days up to several months could be provided. Interestingly, the drug release rate monotonically decreased with increasing Dynasan 120 content, except for implants containing about 20–25% Precirol, which exhibited surprisingly high release rates. This could be attributed to the incomplete miscibility of the two lipids at these blend ratios: DSC thermograms showed phase separation in these systems. This is likely to cause differences in the implants’ microstructure, which determines the mobility of water and dissolved drug as well as the mechanical stability of the systems. Purely diffusion controlled drug release was only observed at Precirol ATO 5 contents around 5–10%. In all other cases, limited drug solubility effects or matrix former erosion are also expected to play a major role. Thus, lipid:lipid blends are very interesting matrix formers in controlled release implants. However, care must be taken with respect to the mutual miscibility of the compounds: in case of phase separation, surprisingly high drug release rates might be observed.