pH-triggered drug release from biodegradable microwells for oral drug delivery

Line Hagner Nielsen, Johan Nagstrup, Sarah Gordon, Stephan Sylvest Keller, Jesper Østergaard, Thomas Rades, Anette Müllertz, Anja Boisen

    23 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Microwells fabricated from poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) were evaluated for their application as an oral drug delivery system using the amorphous sodium salt of furosemide (ASSF) as a model drug. Hot embossing of PLLA resulted in fabrication of microwells with an inner diameter of 240 μm and a height of 100 μm. The microwells were filled with ASSF using a modified screen printing technique, followed by coating of the microwell cavities with a gastro-resistant lid of Eudragit® L100. The release behavior of ASSF from the coated microwells was investigated using a μ-Diss profiler and a UV imaging system, and under conditions simulating the changing environment of the gastrointestinal tract. Biorelevant gastric medium (pH 1.6) was employed, after which a change to biorelevant intestinal release medium (pH 6.5) was carried out. Both μ-Diss profiler and UV imaging release experiments showed that sealing of microwell cavities with an Eudragit® layer prevented drug release in biorelevant gastric medium. An immediate release of the ASSF from coated microwells was observed in the intestinal medium. This pH-triggered release behavior demonstrates the future potential of PLLA microwells as a site-specific oral drug delivery system.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number55
    JournalBiomedical Microdevices
    Volume17
    Number of pages7
    ISSN1387-2176
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 22 Jun 2015

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