In vitro evaluation of gentamicin released from microparticles

In this study, the preparation, characterization and drug release behaviour of gentamicin (GM)-loaded poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) microspheres are described. The microspheres were produced using a double emulsion solvent evaporation technique. All the microspheres preparation resulted in spherical shape and the mean diameter was 3 mum (for empty microspheres) and between 5 and 9 pm for microparticles loaded with GM. The encapsulation efficiency (EE) ranged from 3.4 to 90% depending on the formulation. Increasing the volume of the external aqueous phase, increased the EE. Encapsulation also depended on the pH value of the internal aqueous phase, the highest value was achieved when maintained the internal aqueous phase at pH 6, where GM was more soluble. Moreover, increasing nominal GM loading yielded lower encapsulation efficiencies. The release profiles of GM from microparticles resulted in biphasic, patterns. After an initial burst, a continuous drug release was observed for up to 4 weeks. Finally, the formulations with higher loading released the drug faster. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.