Electrospun bead-on-string PLA nanofibers for sustained drug release

摘要

In order to solve the problem of burst drug release of nanofibers, bead-on-string polylactic acid (PLA) nanofibers, with unique beads acting as carriers for particle drugs of aspirin, were prepared by electrospinning. The influence of PLA concentration on fiber morphology, drug encapsulation and in vitro release behavior was investigated. The results show that bead-on-string nanofibers can only be obtained within a proper range of PLA concentration. The diameters of beads increase initially and then decrease with the increasing PLA concentration, while the diameters of nanofibers between beads become larger and fiber continuity improves. Aspirin can be loaded inside the micro-sized beads but distribute randomly on the surface of smooth nanofibers. The drug release rate of bead-on-string nanofibers is always lower than that of smooth nanofibers. Moreover, beads with large diameter possess better sustained release effect compared with small bead, suggesting the alleviation of burst drug release by means of bead morphology control.