Preparation and <i>In Vitro</i> Drug Release Studies of Arginine Loaded Starch Microspheres

Abstract

Epichlorohydrin crosslinked starch microspheres (ECMs) were synthesized with soluble starch as a raw material and epichlorohydrin as a crosslinker. The characteristics of ECMs were investigated by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Fourier Transform InfraRed spectroscopy (FT-IR).The drug loading and in vitro release properties of ECMs were studied using arginine as a model drug. The results indicate that ECMs have a spherical morphology with average diameter about 7μm. The drug loading studies show that after absorption for 1.5 h, the largest amount of drug (drug loading 31mg/g) is loaded when the quantity ratio of ECMs to arginine is 2. In-vitro release studies indicate that the ECMs are effective in controlled releasing arginine over an extended period of about 25 h.