Preparation of Gentamicin Loaded PLGA Discs

This paper reports the fabrication of drug-loaded microspheres by the spray drying method. The microspheres are then compressed by a hydraulic hand press and a die into a disc. The characterization of the microspheres and the effects of different drug loading percentage on the release profile of the drug from the disc are investigated. The effects of different types of polymers used for the fabrication of the microspheres are also studied. The drug used in the experiment is gentamicin sulphate. The polymers used for the production of microspheres are poly-lactide-co-glycolide (PLGA) 85:15 and 65:35. The physical characteristics of the microspheres were investigated with the use of the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the particle size analyzer. The SEM will enable us to observe the surface morphology of the microspheres while the particle size analyzer allows us to know the size of the microspheres used in the experiment. Investigation of the release profile of the drug is carried out with the help of the UV spectrophotometer. Researchers have shown that the rate of release of hydrophilic drug from microspheres produced by spray drying is very fast. [1] As gentamicin is a highly hydrophilic drug, it is hoped that by compressing the microspheres into disc, the effective surface area exposed will be greatly reduced and that the release of drug can be made to last for a longer period of time.