A comparison of electrospinning and pressurized gyration: Production of empagliflozin-loaded polylactic acid/ polycaprolactone fibrous patches

Abstract

Novel therapeutic strategies are essential for enhancing efficacy and accelerating the treatment of diabetes mellitus. This investigation focused on incorporating empagliflozin into a composite of polylactic acid and polycaprolactone, resulting in the fabrication of drug-loaded fibrous patches (DFPs) for transdermal application, both by electrospinning (ES) and by pressurized gyration (PG). Scanning electron microscopy results revealed that DFPs generated through the PG method exhibited smaller diameters and a larger surface area than ES. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray powder diffraction analyses confirmed the successful encapsulation of the drug in both DFPs. DFPs/PG exhibited a controlled release of 98.7 ± 1.3% of the total drug over 14 days, while DFPs/ES released 98.1 ± 2.1% in 12 days, according to in vitro drug release studies. This study underscores that the PG method can generate DFPs with extended controlled release. 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5 diphenyl tetrazolium bromide test results validate the biocompatibility of DFPs, affirming their lack of adverse effects on human dermal fibroblast cell viability. Consequently, DFPs can be manufactured for transdermal administration using PG, exhibiting similar characteristics to ES but with the added advantage of mass production capability.