title: Preparation, Characterization and Evaluation of Drug Release Properties of Simvastatin-loaded PLGA Microspheres.
abstract: Microspheres formulated from poly (D, L-lactic-co-glycolide) (PLGA), a biodegradable polymer, have been extensively evaluated as a drug delivery system. In this study, the preparation, characterization and drug release properties of the PLGA microspheres were evaluated. Simvastatin (SIM)-loaded PLGA microspheres were prepared by oil-in-water emulsion/solvent evaporation method. The microspheres were then frozen to -80 °C, they were freeze dried for 24 h. Characterization of SIM-loaded PLGA microspheres was evaluated by X-ray diffraction analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Drug release potential was evaluated by UV-spectrophotometry. The experimental results revealed that SIM-loaded PLGA microspheres can be successfully obtained through solvent evaporation method with appropriate morphologic characteristics and high encapsulation efficiency. The drug release pattern from polymeric microspheres in the phosphate buffered saline medium was measured during a 21-day period using UV-spectrophotometry. The correlation coefficient value (r2= 0.9878) of the trend lines of the graph showed that the SIM-loaded PLGA microspheres best fit with zero order release pattern. No burst release was observed with polymeric matrix. The drug release characteristic of the microspheres ascertained that the release was about 27% for SIM-loaded microspheres, which occurred within the first 6 days after maintaining the microspheres in phosphate buffer saline. Also, the microspheres successfully presented a slow release and the duration of the release lasted for more than 21 days. It can be concluded that SIM-loaded PLGA microspheres hold great promise for using as a drug-delivery system in biomedical applications, especially in drug delivery systems and tissue engineering.
authors.affiliation: Dental Biomaterials Department, School of Dentistry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Masaeli
authors.affiliation: Dental Biomaterials Department, School of Dentistry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Tahereh
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: S Jafarzadeh Kashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.; Nanotechnology Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Rassoul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dinarvand
authors.affiliation: Dental Biomaterials Department, School of Dentistry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.; Biomaterials Group, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammadreza
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tahriri
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Dental Branch, Islamic Azad Univesity.
authors.forename: Vahid
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rakhshan
authors.affiliation: Nanotechnology Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Esfandyari-Manesh
keywords: Controlled release; Drug-delivery systems; L-lactic-co-glycolide) (PLGA); Microspheres; Poly (D; Simvastatin