Microparticulate systems composed of biodegradable polymers, such as poly(d,l-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), are widely used for controlled release of bioactive molecules. However, the acidic microenvironment within these microparticles, as they degrade, has been reported to perturb the configuration of most encapsulated proteins. In addition, these polymer particles are also reported to suffer from unrealistically slow and incomplete release of proteins. To address these drawbacks, hollow PLGA microparticles are fabricated through a novel one-step oil-in-water emulsion solvent evaporation technique, by capitalizing on the osmotic property of an osmogen. The effects of fabrication para-meters on particle size and morphology, i.e., volume space of hollow cavity and shell thickness, are also studied. These hollow microparticles are subsequently loaded with bovine insulin microcrystals. It is shown that insulin release profiles can be tuned by simply changing the amount of osmogen in the formulation. At the same time, these hollow microparticles are shown to be effective in maintaining the bioactivity of the encapsulated protein.
Keywords: PLGA; acidic microenvironment; hollow; microparticles; osmogen; protein.
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