Preparation and characterization of protein-loaded poly(epsilon-caprolactone) microparticles for oral vaccine delivery.
 

Benoit MA, Baras B, Gillard J
 

Universite Catholique de Louvain, Ecole de Pharmacie, Laboratoire de Pharmacie Galenique, Industrielle et Officinale, Avenue Emmanuel Mounier 73.20, 1200, Brussels, Belgium. benoit@farg.ucl.ac.be
 

This paper describes the conditions of preparation of poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) microparticles with a mean size between 5 and 10 microm, obtained by a double emulsion-solvent evaporation technique, suitable for oral vaccine delivery. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) was used as water-soluble model antigen for encapsulation. Different parameters influencing the microparticle size, the BSA loading and entrapment efficiency were investigated. Spherical, smooth and homogeneously distributed microparticles were produced with a BSA loading and entrapment efficiency reaching, respectively, 5% (w/w) and 30%. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and isoelectric focusing (IEF) analyses of BSA released from these particles confirmed that the entrapped protein seemed to remain unaltered by the protein encapsulation process. Copyright
 

PMID: 10425353, UI: 99356123