Incorporation of paclitaxel solid dispersions with poloxamer188 or polyethylene glycol to tune drug release from poly(ϵ-caprolactone) films

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Here we report the application of solid dispersion (SD) technique to improve paclitaxel (PTX) release from poly(ϵ-caprolactone) (PCL)-based film. Paclitaxel solid dispersions (SDs) with either poloxamer188 (PXM) or polyethylene glycol (PEG) were successfully prepared by a melting method and then incorporated into PCL films, which were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and In vitro drug release/dissolution studies. It was found that PTX was faster released from the SDs than the corresponding physical mixtures (PMs) or PTX alone. For the PCL films with almost the same PTX loading, drug release from films containing SDs was remarkably faster than that from the film directly incorporated with PTX particles, and the films containing SDs with PXM exhibited a faster drug release than those with PEG. An increase In the content of PXM had no significant influence on PTX release from the films containing SDs. Incorporation of a higher content of SDs led to slower drug release from PCL films, indicating that PTX loading had a dominating effect on drug release. Through this study, we demonstrated the feasibility of the application of SD technique on the improvement of PTX release from PCL films and offered some beneficial information on modulating drug release behavior by changing the compositions and contents of the SDs-loaded PCL films.