In-vitro Degradation Behaviors of Poly(L-lactide-co-glycolide-co-ε-caprolactone) Microspheres

Among drug delivery systems, polymer microspheres have been proved to be the most promising carriers during the past several years. In this paper we describe the preparation of poly(L-lactide-co-glycolide-co-ε-caprolactone) (PLLGC) random terpolymer microspheres; their in-vitro degradation behaviors, including the changes of pH value, mass loss, molecular mass and surface morphology, were investigated during various degradation periods and compared with poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) microspheres. The results showed that the introduction of the ε-caprolactone (ε-CL) unit reduced the degradation rate of the PLGA polymers. Therefore, we suggest the PLLGC microspheres with controllable degradation rate could supply a wider application future in drug delivery field than pure PLGA microspheres.