In Situ Incorporation of Doxorubicin in Copolymer Particles During Suspension Polymerization

Abstract

This work reports the kinetic behavior and the molecular properties of obtained copolymers during vinyl acetate and methyl methacrylate suspension copolymerizations in presence of doxorubicin. The obtained spherical particles are intended for use as chemoembolization agents. It is shown that the presence of doxorubicin in the reaction medium promotes significant changes in the copolymerization kinetics and final molecular weight averages of the polymer product.

Adsorption of BSA (Bovine Serum Albuminum) and lysozyme on poly(vinyl acetate) particles

“…Particles presented smooth surfaces and nonporous structure, as also characterized in previous works [13][14][15]25,30,[32][33][34] . Besides, number-average molecular weight, weight-average molecular weight and polydispersity of the produced resins were equal to 33 × 10 3 g/gmol, 84 × 10 3 g/gmol and 2.55, respectively, as in typical PVAc materials produced in similar conditions [13][14][15]25,30,[32][33][34] . The glass transition temperature (Tg) was equal to 42 °C, which is also characteristic of PVAc powders [13][14][15]25,30,[32][33][34] .…”

“…PVAc microparticles were prepared through suspension polymerization, as described elesewhere [13][14][15]25,30,[32][33][34] . Reaction runs were performed in an 1-liter jacketed glass reactor, equipped with a stainless steel lid and a standard six-blade stainless steel turbine impeller.…”

“…Different methods have been used to load drugs (or biological active substances) into polymer matrices, including co-precipitation, in-situ incorporation and adsorption [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] . In co-precipitation processes, the doped polymer beads are prepared through precipitation from a solution that contains both the drug and the polymer resin.…”

“…Several commercial products are available for embolization and many of them are based on poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) microparticles [13][14][15][25][26][27] . Although PVAc is well known for its excellent adhesive properties [28] , PVAc is also used in a broad range of applications, including medical applications, due to its biocompatibility [29][30][31] .…”

“…Although PVAc is well known for its excellent adhesive properties [28] , PVAc is also used in a broad range of applications, including medical applications, due to its biocompatibility [29][30][31] . For this reason, Pinto and coworkers [13][14][15]25,30,[32][33][34] developed a sequential two-stage process to allow for production of spherical PVAc/PVA particles with core-shell morphology to be used as embolizers. Based on this process, additional studies were carried out to modify the final properties of the particles [32][33][34] .…”