Study on preparation and properties of epirubicin-loaded chitosan microspheres for the cerebral administration

OBJECTIVE To study the preparation technique and release characteristic of epirubicin-loaded chitosan microspheres for the cerebral administration.METHODS Using the liquid paraffin as oil phase,L-ascorbyl palmitate as cross linking agent,and span-80 as the emulsifier;epirubicin-loaded chitosan microspheres were achieved by emulsion-chemical cross link technique.Dynamic dialysis method was used to determine the releasing characteristic of microspheres in vitro.RESULTS Microspheres(epirubicin /chitosan 1∶9) with a good shape and narrow size distribution were prepared.The average diameter was(9.3±2.6)μm.The ratio of drug loading was(8.01±0.23)%.The ratio of entrapment was(72.9±2.2)%.The drug release profile in vitro had a characteristic of good delayed release.CONCLUSION The optimized preparation technique is stable and has a high entrapment efficiency.So it could be used to prepare epirubicin-loaded chitosan microspheres for the cerebral administration.