Preparation of uniform-sized exenatide-loaded PLGA microspheres as long-effective release system with high encapsulation efficiency and bio-stability

Exenatide-loaded poly(d,l-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) microspheres hold great potential as a drug delivery system to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) because they can overcome the shortcoming of exenatideʹs short half-life and realize sustained efficacy. However, conventional preparation methods often lead to microspheres with a broad size distribution, which in turn would cause poor preparation repeatability, drug efficacy and so forth. In this study, we used Shirasu Porous Glass (SPG) premix membrane emulsification technique characterized with high trans-membrane flux and size controllability to prepare uniform-sized PLGA microspheres. By optimizing trans-membrane pressure and PVA concentration in external aqueous phase, uniform-sized PLGA microspheres with large size (around 20 μm) were successfully obtained. To achieve high encapsulation efficiency (EE) and improve in vitro release behavior, we have carefully examined the process parameters. Our results show that using ultrasonication to form primary emulsion, microspheres with high EE were easily obtained, but the rate of in vitro release was very slow. Instead, high EE and appropriate in vitro release were achieved when homogenization with optimized time and speed were employed. Besides, we also systematically investigated the effect of formulations on loading efficiency (LE) as well as the relationship between the resultant size of the microspheres and pore size of the membrane. Finally, through RP-HPLC and CD spectra analysis, we have demonstrated that the bio-stability of exenatide in microspheres was preserved during the preparation process.