ABSTRACT
Starch microspheres will certainly induce physiological processes in the target organs, but these must be well tolerated and induce any toxic reactions in the tissues. The rationale behind this was to mimic the situation in vivo, when the arterial embolization with microspheres is finished due to degradation of the spheres by endogenous a-amylase. The polymerization of acryloylated starch follows the same rules as the polymerization of acrylamide. The length of the acrylic polymer chains is controlled by the frequency of the chain initiations, which is typical for a radical mechanism. Proteins can easily be entrapped in the microparticles when they are added to the water phase prior to the polymerization of the acryloylated starch. The vasculature is tight and extravasation to extracellular areas is well controlled. The structure of the blood vessels and capillaries influences the overall distribution of the drug. Hepatic arterial chemotherapy infusion in patients with liver malignancies has been used to increase the local drug concentration.
