The steroid hormone-polymer composites were made by the radiation induced polymerization in a supercooled state at low temparature using glass-forming monomers.
Testosterone-polymer composites, from which testosterone released at the rate of 100μg per day at the in vitro system, were implanted subcutaneously in the back of castrated male rats. The prostatic weights of testosterone-polymer composites implanted castrated rats were almost the same as those of intact adult male rats. This result indicated that testosterone released constantly from testosterone-polymer composites during one year. It was also demonstrated from both the in vivo and in vitro experiments that estradiol-17 β was found to release constantly during a long period (6 months).
Furthermore, on the basis of basic animal data, the possibility of clinical application of steroids-polymer composites was discussed in this paper.