Sharma, MChandramouli, K2018-09-142018http://hdl.handle.net/2292/37692Full text is available to authenticated members of The University of Auckland only.Introduction: Bone fracture causes disability across all ages, bone healing is slow and is associated with high health expenditure costs. Recent studies have shown that lactoferrin can act as a growth factor stimulating bone healing. A localized sustained delivery of lactoferrin would be beneficial in promoting the bone healing process. Currently not many efficient drug delivery systems for lactoferrin are reported. Poloxamers are a class of smart polymers which can act as vehicles for controlled drug delivery. They are liquid at room temperature and form an in-situ gel depot when injected into a biological system (thermoreversible). The main aim of the thesis was to develop a thermoresponsive poloxamers based in-situ gelling formulation loaded with therapeutic concentrations of lactoferrin with the ability to provide sustained release of lactoferrin for a period of up to three days and enhance the bone healing process. with the ability to provide sustained release of lactoferrin for a period of up to three days and enhance the bone healing process.Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated. Previously published items are made available in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher.Restricted Item. Available to authenticated members of The University of Auckland.https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/docs/uoa-docs/rights.htmhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/nz/ThesisCopyright: The authorQ112935892