Hair Loss News

Wouldn’t it be convenient to only have to get a shot once a month and not have to remember to take Propecia every day?

That’s a possibility in the future according to this recent study.  It appears researchers in China are testing whether it’s possible to create a time-release form of finasteride, the active ingredient in Propecia.

The idea behind time-release medication is that it’s encapsulated in such a way that the drug releases into the body in a controlled fashion over an extended period of time, thereby eliminating the need to take a tablet every day.

In this test the finasteride was encapsulated in a propylene carbonate maleate plastic.    When placed into a lab testing solution, the drug was found to release continuously for a period of 5-6 weeks.

This is just an early test, but since there are already time-release drugs for birth control, it’s quite possible that in the future this type of drug delivery method will be available to users of Propecia.
 

Preparation of novel polymeric microspheres for controlled release of finasteride.

Int J Pharm. 2007 May 13.
Peng D, Huang K, Liu Y, Liu S.
College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China.

The utility of the novel polycarbonate, poly(propylene carbonate maleate) (PPCM) to encapsulate and control the release of finasteride, via microspheres, was investigated. The PPCM microspheres loaded with finasteride were elaborated by a simple oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion-solvent evaporation method. Various manufacturing parameters, including the concentration of polymer in dichloromethane (DCM) and the polymer:finasteride ratios were altered to optimize process variables during the microspheres production. The effects of these changes on the characteristics of the microspheres were examined. The structure and morphology were characterized by wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WXRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that the mean diameter of microspheres was approximately 2mum, and had both smooth and spherical surfaces. Greater encapsulation efficiency was obtained by increasing the ratios of polymer:finasteride and the concentration of PPCM in DCM. In vitro drug release of these microcapsules was performed in a pH 7.4 phosphate-buffered solution. The release profiles of finasteride from PPCM microcapsules were found to be biphasic with a burst release followed by a gradual release phase. A prolonged in vitro drug release profile was observed. After an initial burst, a continuous drug release was observed for up to 5-6 weeks.
 

PMID: 17580108