The objective of the present study was to formulate and evaluate magnetic microspheres of anastrozole using polycaprolactone as the encapsulating material to achieve targeted drug delivery. Anastrozole loaded magnetic PCL microspheres were prepared by O/W emulsion solvent evaporation technique and characterized in terms of morphology, particle size, entrapment efficiency, drug loading, FTIR, DSC studies, magnetite content, magnetic properties, in vitro drug release and in vitro release mechanism. Microspheres were smooth and spherical in shape with an average size of 10.2-11.24μm. Encapsulation efficiency and drug loading were found to be good and the formulations exhibited superparamagnetic behaviour with saturation magnetization of 7.66 emu/g. FTIR studies showed the absence of chemical interaction between polymer and drug. DSC studies revealed amorphous state of drug in the magnetic microspheres. The average magnetite content was 18.22%w/w which could be sufficient to direct the microspheres to their target site. The in vitro release studies showed initial burst effect followed by sustained effect over a period of 21 days. Among all the batches formulated, formulation F3 containing drug to magnetite ratio 1:3 shows more controlled release behaviour. Results suggest that the prepared magnetic microspheres might be potentially used as carrier for targeted delivery.
