Polyglycolides and polylactides

Nearly 95,000 tons of glucose and dextrose are produced by enzymatic liquefaction of starch, mainly tapioca (cassava). Since lactic acid-based biodegradable polymers like polyglycolide and polylactide are not produced in India, consumption of lactic acid is confined to food processing and the pro-... 

D.E. Perrin, J.P. English, Polyglycolide and polylactide, in A.J. Doirib, J. Kost, D.M. Wiseman (Eds.), Handbook of biodegradable polymers, Harwood Academic Publishers, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1997, pp. 3-28. 

Bioerodible polymers offer a unique combination of properties that can be tailored to suit nearly any controlled drug delivery application. By far the most common bioerodible polymers employed for biomedical applications are polyesters and polyethers (e.g., polyethylene glycol), polylactide, polyglycolide and their copolymers). These polymers are biocompatible, have good mechanical properties, and have been used in... 

Recent Developments in Metal-Catalyzed Ring-Opening Polymerization of Lactides and Glycolides Preparation of Polylactides, Polyglycolide, and Poly(lactide-co-glycolide). 219... 

J. Nieuwenhuis, Synthesis of Polylactides, Polyglycolides and Their Copolymers. Clinical Materials, Vol. 10, p. 59-67,1992. 

Selection of a tissue engineering substrate includes a choice between absorbable and nonabsorbable material, as well as a choice between synthetic and naturally derived materials. The most common synthetic polymers used for fibrous meshes and porous scaffolds include polyesters such as polylactide and polyglycolide and their copolymers, polycaprolactone, and polyethylene glycol. Synthetic polymers have advantages over natural polymers in select instances, such as the following i... 

Matrix detachable coils (Boston Scientific Neurovascular) are another example of modified endovascular coils, employing a stainless steel delivery wire coated with a bioabsorbable copolymer of 90% polyglycolide and 10% polylactide. In a study by Murayama et al. (2003), matrix detachable coils were shown to accelerate the rate of aneurysm healing in swine aneurysm models, specifically by promoting the formation of a thick neointimal layer at the aneurysm neck more quickly bare platinum coils (Murayama et al, 2003). Taschner et al. (2005) evaluated the use of Matrix detachable coils in 25 patients with intracranial aneurysms. Again, stable emboUzed aneurysms were achieved over a six-month period, but only when Matrix coils were used in conjunction with bare platinum coils (Taschner et al, 2005). 

A further class of colloidal dispersions of interest in pharmaceutical applications are polymer lattices. In particular, systems of interest include those formed by biodegradable polymers, notably polylactides and polyglycolides and their copolymers, the degradation products of which are essentially non-toxic and readily resorbable. As discussed more extensively below. 

The cyclic forms can be opened by nucleophilic attack of various initiators. Polymers often called poly(glycolic acid) and poly(lactic acid)s or, more properly, polyglycolide (PGA) and polylactides (PLA), or their copolymers (PLGA) can be obtained according to the main mechanism, as... 

Nieuwenhuis, J., 1992, Synthesis of polylactides, polyglycolides and their copolymers, Clin. Mater. 10 59-67. 

Several biodegradable polymers including polyglycolide (PGA), polylactide (PLA), and their copolymers are now widely used for biomedical applications in surgery, such as surgical suture, drug delivery systems, and internal bone fixation. 

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