Development and characterization of lipid microparticles as a drug carrier for somatostatin

Somatostatin, a therapeutic peptide with a high therapeutical potential but a very short biological half-live was encapsulated within microparticles by a modified solvent evaporation method and a melt dispersion method without the use of organic solvent. As the use of synthetic polymer matrix materials often goes along with detrimental effects on incorporated peptides, we investigated the potential of physiological lipids such as glyceryl tripalmitate (Dynasan 116) as an alternative matrix material. The two preparation methods were evaluated with respect to surface topography, particle size distribution, encapsulation efficiency, in-vitro release behavior and modification of the resulting microparticles. Microparticles with a suitable particle size distribution for i.m. or s.c. injection could be prepared with both methods. The encapsulation efficiency of the peptide into glyceryl tripalmitate microparticles was substantially influenced by the preparation method and the physical state of the peptide to be incorporated. The melt dispersion technique and the incorporation of the drug as an aqueous solution gave the best results with actual drug loadings up to 9% and an encapsulation efficiency of approximately 90%. Microparticles prepared by the melt dispersion technique crystallized in the unstable alpha-modification. The peptide was released almost continuously over 10 days with no burst effect, 20-30% of the incorporated somatostatin was not released in the monitored time period.