Nimesulide PLA microspheres as a potential sustained release system for the treatment of inflammatory diseases

Polylactic acid (PLA-L) microspheres were prepared as a biodegradable polymeric carrier for a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, nimesulide. The preparation of this system was performed by the classical emulsion solvent-evaporation method. Size analysis of the microparticulate system showed that unloaded and loaded nimesulide-PLA microspheres had average diameters of about 42.9 nm and 2.1 mu m, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of loaded and unloaded microsphere samples showed that the particles shape were perfectly spherical, the loading efficiency of nimesulide in PLA microspheres was 70% Thus, the microparticle system evaluated in this work showed the potential to act as a sustained release system for nimesulide: in vitro dissolution profiles showed the PLA-L microparticles were able to sustain the release of the drug for a considerable period of time (28.7% within 108 h). (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.