Electrospray biodegradable microcapsules loaded with curcumin for drug delivery systems with high bioactivity

Abstract

In the present work, polylactic acid (PLA) microcapsules as novel drug delivery systems were successfully fabricated by one-step processing using an electrospray technique. Curcumin (Cur) was chosen as model drug with satisfactory loading capacity (LC%) and entrapment efficiency (EE%) greater than 95%. By judiciously adjusting spinning solvents, flow rates, polymer and drug concentrations, the monodisperse and spherical structures of Cur/PLA microcapsules observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscopy were successfully generated with diameter distribution ranging from 3.8 μm to 4.4 μm. The physical-chemical characterization including, FTIR, XRD, TG, and DTA, are explored and in vitro release profiles described by Ritger–Peppas models were also investigated, showing sustained release for 200 h after a burst release in the initial 12 h. The drug-loaded microcapsules showed excellent anti-bacterial activities towards Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) by using both disk diffusion and minimal inhibitory concentration methods. The anti-oxidant performance was also evaluated by using DPPH assays. In vitro cell tests, including Cell Counting Kit-8, hemolysis experiments, and cell adhesion revealed that PLA-based microcapsules had significant biocompatibility and low cytotoxicity. The study showed that the PLA-based electrospray strategy combined with spherical microcapsules has the potential for a broad range of applications in medical fields, especially in drug delivery.