Biodegradable microspheres for parenteral delivery.

Nowadays, emphasis is being laid to development of controlled release dosage forms. Interest in this technology has increased steadily over the past few years. Although oral administration of drugs is a widely accepted route of drug delivery, bioavailability of drug often varies as a result of gastrointestinal absorption, degradation by first-pass effect, and hostile environment of gastrointestinal tract. Transdermal administration for percutaneous absorption of drug is limited by the impermeable nature of the stratum corneum. Ocular and nasal delivery is also unfavorable because of degradation by enzymes present in eye tissues and nasal mucosa. Hence, the parenteral route is the most viable approach in such cases. Of the various ways of achieving long-term parenteral drug delivery, biodegradable microspheres are one of the better means of controlling the release of drug over a long time. Because of the lipidic nature of liposomes, problems such as limited physical stability and difficulty of freeze-drying are encountered. Similarly, for emulsions, stability on long-term basis and in suspensions, rheological changes during filling, injecting, and storage poses limitation. Also, in all these systems, the release rate cannot be tailored to the needs of the patient. Parenteral controlled-release formulations based on biodegradable microspheres can overcome these problems and can control the release of drug over a predetermined time span, usually in the order of days to weeks to months. Various FDA-approved controlled-release parenteral formulations based on these biodegradable microspheres are available on the market, including Lupron Depot Nutropin Depot and Zoladex. This review covers various molecules encapsulated in biodegradable microspheres for parenteral delivery.