The implantable 5-fluorouracil-loaded poly(l-lactic acid) fibers prepared by wet-spinning from suspension

The paper introduced an improved fabrication technique, by which the hydrophobic polymer monofilament fiber loading hydrophilic drug was obtained. The micronized 5-Fu (5-fluorouracil) powders were homogeneously dispersed in PLLA (poly(l-lactic acid))–chloroform solution to form the suspension, and then the suspension was solidified in the nonsolvent to prepare the fibers by wet-spinning method under mild condition. The diameter of drug-loaded fiber was in the range of 50–250 μm. The hydrophilic drug powders were successfully encapsulated into the monofilament fiber with good stability, high drug loading content and efficacy. The MTT cytotoxicity assay in vitro revealed the satisfactory anticancer activity of the drug-loaded fibers. The long-term release characteristics of these fibers were also achieved. Furthermore, the drug release rate of the fibers could be regulated by the formulation and fabricating parameters, such as drug loading content, polymer concentration in suspension, nonsolvent composition and flow rate in wet-spinning. The release mechanism of the fibers was investigated and described by Fickian diffusion equation.