Abstract
The steroidal drug prednisolone was encapsulated into microspheres using the biodegradable polymer poly (DL-lactide) using emulsion-solvent evaporation method The produced microspheres were characterized using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffractometery, FT-IR spectroscopy, DSC, and laser light diffraction. The morphology, particle size distribution, encapsulation efficiency (EE%), and drug release showed marked dependence upon formulation parameters viz. initial polymer concentration, surfactant concentration, drug-to-polymer ratio, and volume of the external aqueous phase. The effect of the addition of hydrophilic additives such as PVP or PEG 8000 was also investigated The encapsulation efficiency percent and the mean particle size were increased by increasing the initial polymer concentration and drug polymer ratio. On the other hand, increasing the surfactant concentration resulted in decreasing the mean particle size and increasing the drug release from the microspheres. The probable mechanism of drug release was estimated and found to be via diffusion through channels and/or pores present within the polymeric matrix. Release data of almost all formulae fitted Higuchi's planar model better than spherical model. This finding could be due to the small extent of drug release (similar to 40%), or the presence of a large fraction of the encapsulated drug nearby the surface of the microspheres.