Synthesis, characterisation and drug release properties of microspheres of polystyrene with aliphatic polyester side-chains.

A series of graft copolymers consisting of polystyrene backbone with biocompatible side chains based on (co)polymers of l-lactic acid and glycolic acid were synthesised by combination two controlled polymerisations, namely, nitroxide mediated radical polymerisation (NMRP) and ring opening polymerisation (ROP) with "Click" chemistry. The main goal of this work was to design new biodegradable microspheres using obtained graft copolymers for long-term sustained release of imatinib mesylate (IMM) as a model drug. The IMM loaded microspheres of the graft copolymers, polystyrene-g-poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PS-g-PLLGA), polystyrene-g-poly(lactic acid) (PS-g-PLLA) and poly(lactic-coglycolic acid) (PLLGA) were then prepared by a modified water-in-oil-in-water (w1/o/w2) double emulsion/solvent evaporation technique. The optimised microspheres were characterised by particle size, encapsulation efficiency, and surface morphology also; their degradation and release properties were studied in vitro. The degradation studies of three different types of microspheres showed that the PS backbone of the graft copolymers slows down the degradation rate compared to PLLGA.