[Study on preparation process of artesunate polylactic acid microspheres]

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Materials Science
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Hepatic arterial embolization is a key treatment for liver cancer.
• Developing effective drug delivery systems is crucial for targeted cancer therapy.
• Artesunate shows promise as an anti-cancer agent, but its delivery requires optimization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To optimize the preparation of artesunate polylactic acid (PLA) microspheres.
• To evaluate the in vitro release characteristics of these microspheres.
• To establish a suitable artesunate-PLA microsphere formulation for hepatic arterial embolization.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the O/W emulsion/solvent evaporation method for microsphere preparation.
• Employed polylactic acid (PLA) as the primary material and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as the emulsifier.
• Conducted single factor analysis and orthogonal experiments to optimize PLA concentration, PVA concentration, drug loading ratio, and stirring velocity.

Main Results:

• Determined optimal processing conditions: 9.0% PLA, 0.9% PVA, 1:2 drug loading ratio, and 1000 rpm stirring speed.
• Achieved microsphere size of (101.7 ± 0.37) µm.
• Obtained drug loading capacity of (30.8 ± 0.84)% and encapsulation efficiency of (53.6 ± 0.62)%.

Conclusions:

• The optimized preparation process for artesunate-PLA microspheres is stable and reproducible.
• This formulation provides a solid foundation for further research into its efficacy for hepatic arterial embolization.
• The developed microspheres demonstrate potential for targeted delivery of artesunate in liver cancer treatment.