Effect of recrystallized PLGA on release behavior of 5-fluorouracil

In this study, we fabricated recrystallized PLGA (rPLGA) particles using the vacuum drying method. In order to investigate an applicability of the rPLGA particles for controlled release system of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) loaded PLGA wafer, we prepared three different wafers using; 1) untreated PLGA (uPLGA), 2) rPLGA, and 3) uPLGA and rPLGA (4 : 1, 1 : 1 or 1 : 4). The rPLGA particles were characterized using NMR, IR and GPC to compare with uPLGA particles. The surface and cross section morphology of the prepared wafers were observed by the scanning electron microscope. The release profile of the 5-FU loaded wafer was measured by HPLC. The 5-FU/rPLGA wafer released the incorporated 5-FU in a sustained manner with low initial burst compared to 5-FU/uPLGA. These results showed that the ratio of pure PLGA/recrystallized PLGA can affect the release behaviors.