The stabilization and encapsulation of human growth hormone into biodegradable microspheres.

Purpose: To produce and evaluate sustained-acting formulations of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) made by a novel microencapsulation process.

Methods: The protein was stabilized by forming an insoluble complex with zinc and encapsulated into microspheres of poly (D,L-lactide co-glycolide) (PLGA) which differed in polymer molecular weight (8-31 kD), polymer end group, and zinc content. The encapsulation procedure was cryogenic, non-aqueous, and did not utilize surfactants or emulsification.

In vivo characterization of sustained-release formulations of human growth hormone.

Long-acting formulations of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) were prepared by stabilizing and encapsulating the protein into three different injectable, biodegradable microsphere formulations composed of polymers of lactic and glycolic acid. The formulations were compared in juvenile rhesus monkeys by measuring the serum levels of rhGH and two proteins induced by hGH, insulin-like growth factor-I and IGF binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) after single s.c.

A month-long effect from a single injection of microencapsulated human growth hormone.

An injectable sustained-release form of human growth hormone (hGH) was developed by stabilizing and encapsulating the protein, without altering its integrity, into biodegradable microspheres using a novel cryogenic process. A single injection of microspheres in monkeys resulted in elevated serum levels of recombinant hGH (rhGH) for more than one month. Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and its binding protein IGFBP-3, both of which are induced by hGH, were also elevated for four weeks by the rhGH containing microspheres to a level greater than that induced by the same amount of rhGH administered by daily injections.

[Diagnosis of a cerebral infarct with a hemorrhagic component].

Using computerized methods the authors have analyzed formalized case histories of three variants of an acute disorder of the cerebral circulation in the matter of the cerebral hemispheres verified by pathoanatomical studies: (1) cerebral infarction with a hemorrhagic component (n = 88), (2) a gray ischemic cerebral stroke (n = 80), (3) parenchymatous hemorrhage (n = 71). The informative symptoms and symptom complexes identified can be employed for the differentiation between cerebral infarction with a hemorrhagic component and other types of strokes.