Studies on in vitro release of cyclosporine A-loaded microspheres

Aim This study was to prepare cyclosporine A （CyA） microspheres （Ms） using 75：25 poly （D, L-lactide-co-glycolide） polymer （PLGA）, and to evaluate the in vitro release of the CyA microspheres. Methods CyA-Ms were prepared by an oil-inwater （o/w） emulsion solvent extraction/evaporation process and characterized for drug content, particle size, surface morphology, and differential scanning calorimeter （DSC）. Accelerated in vitro release of cyclosporine A from the mieropsheres was studied at various conditions, such as temperatures, surfactants, pH values and organic solvents for a short period. Results CyA-Ms were in spherical shape with average particle size of 50 μm and loading efficiency of 13.0%. The results of DSC measurements suggested that at the dry state, CyA did interact very strongly with the hydrophilic PLGA polymer. In vitro release test in various release medium showed slight increase of CyA-Ms release profiles under various conditions of temperatures, surfactants and pH values. However, dramatical increase of CyA-Ms release was seen in the medium containing 30% isopropanol. Conclusion It was demonstrated that CyA could be incorporated into polymeric Ms prepared from PLGA using a solvent evaporation technique. The release medium containing 30% isopropanol might be the ideal condition for CyA-PLGA microspheres in vitro quality control test.

Controllable Preparation and Superior Rate Performance of Spinel LiMn2O4 Hollow Microspheresas Cathode Material for Lithium-ion Batteries

Spinel LiMn2O4 microspheres and hollow microspheres with adjustable wall thickness have been prepared using controllable oxidation of MnCO3 microspheres precursors and following solid reactions with lithium salts. Scanning electron microscopy （SEM） investigations demonstrate that the microsphere morphology and hollow structure of precursors are inherited. The effect of hollow structure properties of as-prepared LiMn2O4 on their performance as cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries has been studied. Electrochemical performance tests show that LiMn2O4 hollow microspheres with small wall thickness exhibit both superior rate capability and better cycle performance than LiMn2O4 solid microspheres and LiMn2O4 hollow microspheres with thick wall. The LiMn2O4 hollow microspheres with thin wall have discharge capacity of 132.7 mA.h-g^-1 at C/10 （14.8 mA.g^-1） in the first cycle, 94.1% capacity retention at C/10 after 40 cycles and discharge capacity of 116.5 mAh-gq at a high rate of 5C. The apparent lithium-ion diffusion coefficient （Dapp） of as-prepared LiMn2O4 determined by capacity intermittent titration technique （CITT） varies from 10-11 to 10-8.5 cm2.s^-1 showing a regular ＂W＂ shape curve plotted with test voltages. The D app of LiMn2O4 hollow microspheres with thin wall has the largest value among all the prepared samples. Both the superior rate capability and cycle stability of LiMn2O4 hollow microspheres with thin wall can be ascribed to the facile ion diffusion in the hollow structures and the robust of hollow structures during repeated cycling.

Preparation and in vitro activity of controlled release microspheres incorporating bFGF

Objective： To study the preparative method of controlled release microspheres incorporating basic fibroblast growth factor （bFGF） and the bioaetivities of bFGF, which were released from bFGF mierospheres, on the cultured Sehwann cells. Methods： bFGF was microcapsulated with the multiple emulsion encapsulative method using polylactic-coglycolic acid （PLGA） as coating material. Its morphology, particle size distribution, drug loading, enveloping rate and in vitro release property were studied. The cultured Schwann cells were grouped according to the different ingredients being added to the culture medium of bFGF group or bFGF-PLGA group. Then the cytometry, cytoactivity detection and mitotic cycle analysis of Schwann cells were performed. Results： The morphology and the particle size distribution of the bFGF-PLGA microspheres were even and good. The drug loading and enveloping rate of microspheres were （ 27.18×10^-3 ） % ± （0.51×10^-3） % and 66.43 % ± 1.24 %. The release property of microspheres in vitro was good and the overall release rate was 72. 47 % in 11 days. The in vitro cellular study showed that： at the first 2 days of plate culture, the cell number and viability of the bFGF group were statistically higher than the bFGF-PLGA group; at the 3rd and 4th days of plate culture, the cell number and viability of bFGF and bFGF-PLGA groups showed no difference; at the 6th and 8th days of the plate culture, the cell number and viability of the bFGF-PLGA group were statistically higher than the bFGF group. By flow eytometry examination, at the 2nd day of plate culture, the G2/M ＋ S percentage of bFGF group was statistically higher than the bFGF-PLGA group, at the 4th and 8th days of plate culture, the G2/M ＋ S percentage of the bFGF-PLGA group was statistically higher than the bFGF group. Conclusions： It is practical to prepare the bFGF- PLGA microspheres with the multiple emulsion eneapsulative method, bFGF-PLGA mierospheres can preserve the bioaetivities of bFGF effectively and promote the proliferation of Sehwann cells in a long period because of the controlled release of bFGF from the mierospheres.