Preparation Methods of Biodegradable Microspheres on Bovine Serum Albumin Loading Efficiency and Release Profiles

The solvent evaporation and multiple phase methods for preparing poly-(d, l) lactide microspheres of bovine serum albumin (BSA) were compared. The effects of poly (vinyl alcohol) concentration and external aqueous phase temperature on the loading efficient of BSA microspheres prepared by multiple phase emulsion method were evaluated as well. The BSA loading efficient of microspheres by multiple phase emulsion method was much higher than that by solvent evaporation method. The high aqueous solubility of BSA contributes to the low loading efficieny in the solvent evaporation method, suggesting that this method is inappropriate for proteins with high water solubility. The loading efficieny of microspheres, whcih were prepared by multiple phase emulsion method, increased with PVA concentration but decreased with external aqueous phase temperature. The burst phenomenon of release profiles of microspheres was influenced by poly (vinyl alcohol) concentrations and the external aqueous phase temperature. Considering the duration sustained release, 0.5% w/v of poly (vinyl alcohol) is most appropriate among the concentrations tested for preparing BSA microspheres by multiple phase emulsion method.