Microfluidic synthesis of monodisperse PEGDA microbeads for sustained release of 5-fluorouracil

This paper reports an in situ photopolymerization method based on a microfluidic device to produce 5-fluorouracil loaded biocompatible poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) microspheres with monodisperse size distribution for sustained drug release. Multiphase flow of 5-fluorouracil and PEGDA are dispersed to generate droplets in continuous hexadecane stream based on a T-junction microfluidic channel. The size of emulsion can be controlled from 16.7 to 85.7 A mu m in diameter by altering the flow rate ratio of the continuous phase and the dispersed phase. The droplets are polymerized in a serpentine channel region induced by UV irradiation. Optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy are performed to characterize the dispersity and morphology of the microbeads. A quantitative drug release study is conducted within the drug dosage range from 0.1 to 0.5 % w/w. It is shown that the PEGDA microbead-mediated release of 5-fluorouracil exhibits relatively fast elution in the first 12 h and sustained release over the next 156 h, under which the proliferation of Huh-7 tumor cells is effectively inhibited in vitro. These results demonstrate that monodisperse PEGDA microbeads could be utilized as promising carriers with long-term stability in a drug delivery and screening system for sustained release of 5-fluorouracil during chemotherapy.