pH-triggered drug release from biodegradable microwells for oral drug delivery

Line Hagner Nielsen, Johan Nagstrup, Sarah Gordon, Stephan Sylvest Keller, Jesper Østergaard, Thomas Rades, Anette Müllertz, Anja Boisen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

24 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Microwells fabricated from poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) were evaluated for their application as an oral drug delivery system using the amorphous sodium salt of furosemide (ASSF) as a model drug. Hot embossing of PLLA resulted in fabrication of microwells with an inner diameter of 240 μm and a height of 100 μm. The microwells were filled with ASSF using a modified screen printing technique, followed by coating of the microwell cavities with a gastro-resistant lid of Eudragit® L100. The release behavior of ASSF from the coated microwells was investigated using a μ-Diss profiler and a UV imaging system, and under conditions simulating the changing environment of the gastrointestinal tract. Biorelevant gastric medium (pH 1.6) was employed, after which a change to biorelevant intestinal release medium (pH 6.5) was carried out. Both μ-Diss profiler and UV imaging release experiments showed that sealing of microwell cavities with an Eudragit® layer prevented drug release in biorelevant gastric medium. An immediate release of the ASSF from coated microwells was observed in the intestinal medium. This pH-triggered release behavior demonstrates the future potential of PLLA microwells as a site-specific oral drug delivery system.

Original languageEnglish
Article number55
Number of pages7
JournalBiomedical Microdevices
Volume17
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 16 May 2015

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors would like to acknowledge the Villum Kann Rasmussen Foundation and the Danish Research Council for Technology and Production (FTP), Project DFF - 4004-00120B for financial support. Moreover, the NAnoMEChanical sensors and actuators, fundamentals and new directions (NAMEC) – a VKR Centre of Excellence is acknowledged.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Keywords

  • Biodegradable polymer
  • Furosemide
  • Micro delivery systems
  • Oral drug delivery
  • UV imaging
  • μ-Diss profiler

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Molecular Biology

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