Synthesis and characterization of star-shaped poly (lactide-co-glycolide) and its drug-loaded microspheres

The star-shaped poly (lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) was synthesized via the ring-opening polymerization of d,l-lactide and glycolide, with pentaerythritol as a multifunctional initiator and stannous 2-ethyl hexanoate as a catalyst. The structures of these polymers were characterized by ¹³C-NMR spectroscopy, while the molecular weight and polydispersity index (PDI) were determined by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The glass transition temperature (T _g) of copolymer was determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Bovine serum albumin (BSA) loaded microspheres were fabricated using star-shaped PLGA by a W/O/W double emulsion solvent evaporation method. The results of characterization demonstrated that the particle size of the PLGA microspheres were about 80–150 μm, the maximum loading capacity and encapsulation efficiency of BSA-loaded microspheres were 67.51 μg/(mg microspheres) and 78.39%, respectively, which were better than linear PLGA. The in vitro release profiles of BSA in phosphate buffer saline (PBS) lasted for 37 h. Drug release profiles can be affected by polymer molecular weight and the ratio of polymer to drug. The maximum release percentage was 80%.