PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF OIL-IN-WATER TYPE POLY (D,L-LACTIC ACID) MICROSPHERES CONTAINING TESTOSTERONE ENANTHATE

Poly (D,L-lactic acid) (PLA) microspheres containing testosterone enan thate (ET) were prepared by using an oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion techn ique. The size distribution of the microspheres obtained could be expl ained by a log-normal distribution, and as a result, it was found that ET fully incorporates into microspheres even when the drug is loaded at up to 50%. On the other hand, the dissolution behavior of ET from m icrospheres was strongly dependent on particle size, suggesting that d issolution of the drug from microspheres can be easily controlled by c ontrolling the preparative conditions.