Effects of Molecular Weights on the Physico-pharmaceutical Properties of Poly-L-glutamic acid-cytarabine Conjugates

In order to obtain some informations about the effect of molecular weight on the release rate of drug from drug carrier, two types of poly-L-glutamic acid (PLGA)-cytarabine (ara-C) conjugates, PLGA-ara-C:I and PLGA-ara-C:II, were synthesized using two types of PLGA having different average molecular weight, 43,000 and 77,800, respectively. The PLGA-ara-C conjugates were synthesized by mixed anhydride method and found to be covalently linked. Both types of conjugates charged negatively at biological pH. The pH-dependent release rate of ara-C was observed in both cases, and the release rate was accelerated in basic, acidic conditions (the k values were 0.015 $day^{-1}$ at pH 7.0, 0.024 $day^{-1}$ at pH 5.0, and 0.059 $day^{-1}$ at pH 9.0 in the case of PLGA-ara-C:I) and in the presence of pretense. The time required for the release of 16.5% of ara-C from PLGA-ara-C:I were 8 hr and 144 hr in the presence and absence of protease, respectively. Although both types of conjugates showed similar drug substitution ratio, they showed different release rates. Between the two types of conjugates, PLGA-ara-C:II showed the faster release rate (0.030 vs 0.042 $day^{-1}$ in pH 7.4 phosphate buffer solution at $37^{\circ}C$) and the smaller activation energy for the release of drug (12.5 vs 7.7 Kcal/mol) than PLGA-ara-C:I. The characteristic effect of molecular weight on the release rates of PLGA-ara-C conjugates suggests that the drug release rate might be effectively controlled over a prolonged period of time by the combined use of the different types of PLGA-ara-C conjugates having different molecular weights.