Microfluidic-based fabrication and characterization of drug-loaded PLGA magnetic microspheres with tunable shell thickness

Drug Deliv. 2021 Dec;28(1):692-699. doi: 10.1080/10717544.2021.1905739.

Abstract

To overcome the shortcoming of conventional transarterial chemoembolization (cTACE) like high systemic release, a novel droplet-based flow-focusing microfluidic device was fabricated and the biocompatible poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) magnetic drug-eluting beads transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) microspheres with tunable size and shell thickness were prepared via this device. Paclitaxel, as a model active, was loaded through O/O/W emulsion method with high efficiency. The size and the shell thickness vary when adjusting the flow velocity and/or solution concentration, which caters for different clinical requirements to have different drug loading and release behavior. Under the designed experimental conditions, the average diameter of the microspheres is 60 ± 2 μm and the drug loading efficiency has reached 6%. The drug release behavior of the microspheres shows the combination of delayed release and smoothly sustained release profiles and the release kinetics differ within different shell thickness. The microspheres also own the potential of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) visuality because of the loaded magnetic nanoparticles. The microsphere preparation method and device we proposed are simple, feasible, and effective, which have a good application prospect.

Keywords: TACE; microfluidic; microsphere; paclitaxel.

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / administration & dosage
  • Chemistry, Pharmaceutical
  • Chemoembolization, Therapeutic / methods*
  • Drug Carriers
  • Drug Liberation
  • Emulsions
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles / classification*
  • Microfluidics / methods*
  • Microspheres*
  • Paclitaxel / administration & dosage
  • Particle Size
  • Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer / chemistry*

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic
  • Drug Carriers
  • Emulsions
  • Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer
  • Paclitaxel

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Nos. 81202378 and 81311140268], Project of Hunan Science and Technology [Nos. 2020JJ9011 and 2020JJ9020], the Healthy Department of Hainan Province [No. 20A200039), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of Central South University [Nos. 1053320183003 and 1053320190355], and the Hunan Provincial Innovation Foundation for Postgraduate [No. CX20190246].