Paclitaxel Loaded Polylactide-Co-Glycolide Acids for Coronary Artery Disease and Cancer Treatment

Adedeji, Abimbola Feyisara (2013-04-07)

Thesis

The number one killer disease in the world is Cardiovascular Disease1. The most serious element of Cardiovascular Disease is Coronary Artery Disease. Currently, the main treatment for Coronary Artery Disease is stent placement surgery. However, its long time safety and efficiency are the major setbacks, as it is associated with late restenosis and late thrombosis. These are set caused by the durable polymeric film used as the drug carrier. To improve on the current treatment (stent placement surgery), a biodegradable drug delivery system was synthesized. Paclitaxel was successfully entrapped into the polylactide-co-glycolide acids microspheres via single solvent microencapsulation evaporation method. Optical Microscopy was used to study the shape and morphology of the microspheres. The particle sizes were found to range of the microspheres is 15. 18 – 40.11 μm, with a mean size of 29.415 μm, a p-value 0.986 and a z-value-0.02. The results suggest that the encapsulated drug loaded microspheres can be used as biodegradable drug eluting structures for localized vascular-targeted therapy for the treatment of coronary artery disease. This is a presented as potential alternative to stent placement surgery. The potential extensions to localized cancer treatment are also elucidated.