d-alpha-Tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate (TPGS) modified poly(l-lactide) (PLLA) films for localized delivery of paclitaxel.

d-alpha-Tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate (TPGS) was used as a novel additive to the poly(l-lactide) (PLLA) films for local drug delivery with paclitaxel as a prototype therapeutic agent. Paclitaxel-loaded PLLA/TPGS films were prepared by the solvent casting technique with dichloromethane as the solvent. Effects of TPGS component on the films' physicomechanical properties and the drug release profile were investigated. It was found by field emission scanning microscopy (FESEM) that a biphasic honeycomb surface was formed for the PLLA/TPGS films, while the PLLA film exhibited a smooth and homogeneous surface. There was no significant effect of the drug loading on the morphological structure of the PLLA/TPGS films. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) demonstrated that the PLLA/TPGS films was a phase-separated system. Tensile testing showed that the flexibility of the PLLA/TPGS films was much higher than that of the PLLA film. The elongation at break for the PLLA/TPGS film of 5%, 10% and 15% TPGS content was 6.8, 8.9 and 19.4 times of that for the PLLA film, respectively. In vitro drug release studies found that incorporation of TPGS considerably facilitated paclitaxel release.