Production of Polycaprolactone/Atorvastatin Films for Drug Delivery Application

Developing biomaterials for tissue regeneration is a promising alternative for the recovery of various tissues, including bone. Atorvastatin (ATV) has a series of beneficial effects which includes bone anabolism, vasodilating, and anti-inflammatory actions. The main objective of this work was to produce and characterize polycaprolactone (PCL) matrices incorporated with ATV. Samples were prepared by the solvent casting technique. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-Ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and in vitro release studies were performed. FTIR analysis showed that no chemical bonds were formed between PCL and ATV. SEM analysis showed that the amount of ATV affects sample morphology. According to XRD and thermal analysis, the main ATV characteristics were maintained. The studies showed that PCL/ATV samples release the drug in a prolonged way since its release reaches around 50% after 15000 minutes of analysis and the model that showed the best fit for the studied matrices was the Higuchi model, with a correlation coefficient above 0.95.

Keywords:
Atorvastatin; biomaterials; bioengineering; drug release; polymeric matrices