Polylactide toxicity

Bourges et al. studied the kinetics of polylactide (PLA) nanoparticle (NP) localization within the intraocular tissues and to evaluate their potential to release encapsulated material. Environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) showed the flow of the NPs from the site of injection into the vitreous cavity and their rapid settling on the internal limiting membrane. Histology demonstrated the anatomic integrity of the injected eyes and showed no toxic effects. A mild inflammatory cell infiltrate was observed in the ciliary body 6 h after the injection and in the posterior vitreous and retina at 18-24 h. The intensity of inflammation decreased markedly by 48 h. Confocal and fluorescence microscopy and immunohistochemistry showed that a transretinal movement of the NPs was... 

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. 

Polylactide is a kind of biodegradable polyester that possesses many desirable properties such as non-toxicity, hydrolyzability and biocompatibility for use for varied biomedical purposes such as sutures, fracture fixation, oral implant and drug delivery microspheres.It is popularly synthesized by the ringopening polymerization of lactide monomers which are the cyclic dimers of lactic acid. Polymerization of racemic D,L-lactide typically results in atactic, amorphous polymers named poly(D,L-lactide) (rg 60 °C), whereas polymerization of L-lactide or D-lactide results in isotactic, semicrystalline polymers called poly(L-lactide) or poly(D-lactide) (7" 180 PLA fractures... 

---