Supercritical Impregnation of Ketoprofen into Polylactic Acid for Biomedical Application: Analysis and Modeling of the Release Kinetic

Ketoprofen (KET) is an anti-inflammatory drug often used in medicine due to its analgesic and antipyretic effects. If it is administered in a controlled form by means of different dosing devices, it acts throughout the patient's recovery period improving its efficacy. This study intends to support the use of supercritical solvent impregnation (SSI) as an efficient technique to develop polylactic acid (PLA) functionalized with ketoprofen, for use as controlled drug release devices. For this purpose, firstly, the influence of different SSI variables on the desirable swelling of the polymer structure, while avoiding their foaming, were evaluated. Then, the resulting ketoprofen loading was evaluated under different pressure/temperature conditions. It was generally found that as pressure and temperature are higher, the drug impregnation loads also increase. The maximum impregnation loads (at about 9% KET/PLA) were obtained at 200 bar and 75 degrees C. In vitro drug release tests of the impregnated compound were also carried out, and it was found that drug release profiles were also dependent on the specific pressure and temperature conditions used for the impregnation of each polymer filament.

Automated summary

The study supported the use of supercritical solvent impregnation (SSI) as an efficient technique to develop ketoprofen-functionalized polylactic acid (PLA) for controlled drug release devices. By evaluating the influence of different SSI variables on polymer structure swelling and ketoprofen loading under various pressure/temperature conditions, the researchers found that higher pressure and temperature led to increased drug impregnation loads, with maximum impregnation at 200 bar and 75 degrees C. In vitro drug release tests showed that drug release profiles were dependent on specific pressure and temperature conditions used for impregnation of each polymer filament.