Abstract
The present study was intended to develop poly(d,l-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA; 50:50, 0.15 dL/g) microspheres (MS) loaded with yuanhuacine (YHC) for passive targeting in lung as well as providing a simple evaluation method for the targeting efficiency of MS. A kind of photochromic spiropyran dye was applied to label MS to clearly demonstrate the in vivo distribution characteristics through intravenous injection into mice and rabbits. Sections of 10-μm thickness from different organs were cut using a microtome, and fluorescent microscopy was used to determine the biodistribution of the MS. The average particle size of MS was 9.0 μm, and the glass transition temperature was 37–40°C. In vitro, the cumulative release achieved 50.8% in 24 h. Histological sections from different organs indicated that the amount of MS in lung achieved maximum in 6 h, as about 8 times as in liver and 70 times higher than the average concentration of other organs. In vivo, MS were gradually swelled and drug concentration remained just 10% in 12 h, which would not result in long time embolization in the lung. This evaluation method supplies a simple and visualized channel in focus for the targeting efficiency of PLGA MS.
Acknowledgment
The authors wish to thank Renshu Zheng (Dalian Medical University, China) for his advice and assistance with histological analysis.
Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.