Approaches to Improve Therapeutic Efficacy of Biodegradable PLA/PLGA Microspheres: A Review

This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview about various innovative strategies that have been employed by recent researchers to overcome with the shortcomings associated with traditional microspheres. Essentially, optimization strategies from structural aspects have been widely investigated to improve the properties (e.g., enhanced hydrophilicity, reduced initial burst release, etc.) of the pristine microspheres. These include bulk alteration, surface modification as well as the formation of sophisticated microsphere design such as core-shell structures. Other than that, various microencapsulation techniques and novel technologies such as spray drying, supercritical fluid technique, membrane, and microfluidics emulsification also have been explored in this review. Additionally, the impact of formulation-related aspects on the drug encapsulation efficiency, particles size and particles size distribution during double emulsification method will also be discussed and reviewed extensively based on the recent literatures reported.