Lactide polymerization faced with therapeutic application requirements

The ring opening polymerization of cyclic dilactones of the 1,4-dioxane-2,5 -dione-type derived from a-hydroxy acids such as lactic and glycolic acids leads to hydrolytically degradable and bioresorbable aliphatic polyesters o f the poly(alpha-hydroxy acid)-type (PLAGA). Nowadays, taking advantage of the PLAGA family for therapeutic applications is one of the attractive area in polymer science. With such rationale, any advantages expected from adva nces from the Viewpoint of the science of polymeric materials have to be co nfronted to the chemical, physico-chemical, physical and biological phenome na imposed by living systems and media. The result is generally a compromis e necessarily issued from a multidisciplinary approach. This contribution d iscusses the problem in general on the basis of the present understanding o f the synthesis, the architecture and the hydrolytic degradation of PLAGA m acromolecules confronted to biocompatibility and biofunctionality requireme nts.