Thymosin-loaded enteric microspheres for oral administration: preparation and in vitro release studies

Thymosin, a water-soluble polypeptide compound, was encapsulated within enteric microspheres of acrylic acid resin II by modified oil in oil (o/o) emulsion solvent evaporation method. The mixture emulsifier composed of lecithin and Span 80 was critical to the formation of sphere-shaped thymosin microparticles. Optimizing process parameters, such as the volume ratio of organic solvent to water, initial drug feed and polymer concentration, resulted in high drug encapsulation efficiency of 89.7% (6% polymer concentration and 0.5% initial drug feed). In vitro release studies suggested that thymosin release from microspheres exhibited pH dependent profiles. For formulation with 6% polymer concentration and 0.5% initial drug feed, 68.7% thymosin was released within 4h in pH 6.8 PBS buffer, while only 6.5% was observed in acid medium.