PLGA-The Smart Biocompatible Polimer: Kinetic Degradation Studies and Active Principle Release

The aim of our research was the development of prolonged delivery systems for therapeutic agents with various properties (prevention and treatment of bone diseases, anti-neoplastic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant) that would ensure sustained therapeutic levels of the active principle, above the minimum inhibitory concentration, without reaching toxic levels over a long period of time as alternatives to conventional routes of administration. PLGA (poly lactic-co-glycolic acid), a biodegradable and biocompatible synthetic polymer, FDA approved, with a 65:35 lactic acid (LA): glycolic acid (GA) copolymer ratio, was chosen as delivery system. Our studies have shown that in PBS it undergoes two simultaneous degradation processes, hydrolysis and autohydrolysis, degrading completely in about 40 days. The release of the active principle is determined by the diffusion from inside the polymer matrix to the outside, which occurs simultaneously with the erosion of the polymer, during 35 days.