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Release of highly hydrophilic drugs from poly(ϵ‐caprolactone) matrices
Author(s) -
Rosenberg Rachel T.,
Siegel Steven J.,
Dan Nily
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.27511
Subject(s) - coating , diffusion , caprolactone , materials science , polymer , drug , caffeine , controlled release , liberation , chemical engineering , chemistry , polymer chemistry , composite material , nanotechnology , pharmacology , copolymer , thermodynamics , medicine , in vitro , biochemistry , physics , engineering , endocrinology
We examine the release of two highly hydrophilic drugs, nicotine and caffeine, from poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCL) matrices. We find that the dominant mechanism for drug release is drug diffusion through the PCL matrices. As a result, the rate of drug release (defined by the amount of drug released per unit time) decreases exponentially with time. Coating the drug‐carrying particles with a drug‐free PCL layer significantly changes the release profile: instead of exponential decay, the release rate exhibits a peak whose location (time) and magnitude vary with the diffusion coefficient of the drug in the polymer and the thickness of the coating. As a result, coating may be used to control the release rate andobtain a relatively constant rate over a period of time. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008