Application of Chitin and Chitosan Derivatives in the Pharmaceutical Field

Abstract

Chitin and chitosan derivatives are used as excipients and drug carriers in the pharmaceutical field. Their derivatization contributed to expansion of application and decrease toxicity. Chitosan is used as an excipient in oral dosage form. Chitosan tablet can exhibit a sustained drug release compared to commercial products. Films prepared using chitin or chitosan have been developed as wound dressings, oral mucoadhesive and water-resisting adhesive by virtue of their release characteristics and adhesion. Intratumoral administration of gadopentetic acid-chitosan complex nanoparticles (approximately 430 nm in diameter) has been more effective for gadolinium neutron-capture therapy compared with a group treated with the solution. Compared to intragastrical feeding with diphtheria toxoid (DT) in PBS, a strong enhancement of the systemic (IgG) and local (IgA) immune responses against DT has been observed in mice fed with DT loaded chitosan microparticles (approximately 4.7 microm in size). When DNA-loaded chitosan microspheres (1.15 - 1.28 microm) were intramuscularly administrated into mice, high beta-galactosidase and luciferase productions were obtained even after a long post-transfection period (12 weeks). N-Succinyl-chitosan (Suc-Chi) has been studied for cancer chemotherapy as a drug carrier and the conjugates of mitomycin C with Suc-Chi exhibited good antitumor activities against various tumors. Furthermore, trimethyl-chitosan and monocarboxymethyl-chitosan has been shown to be effective as intestinal absorption enhancers due to their physiological properties. Chitosan-thioglycolic acid conjugates has been found to be a promising candidate as scaffold material in tissue engineering due to their physicochemical properties. This review summarizes the application of chitin and chitosan derivatives for hospital preparations and drug carriers.

Bone tissue engineering: A review in bone biomimetics and drug delivery strategies

“…A wide variety of drugs have been encapsulated and released from biodegradable polymer scaffolds including antibiotics, DNA, RNA, cathepsin inhibitors, chitin, chemotherapeutics, bisphosphonates, statins, sodium fluoride, dihydropyridine, and many others. 48,[297][298][299][300] The scope of this section is limited to basic motivation and strategies in encapsulation and local controlled release of antibiotics and chemotherapeutics for the purpose of sepsis and cancer recurrence prevention. Infection is defined as the homeostatic imbalance between the host tissue and the presence of microorganisms at a concentration exceeding 10 5 per gram of tissue.…”

Synthesis and Characterization of Chitosan-Polyvinyl Alcohol Blended with Cloisite 30B for Controlled Release of the Anticancer Drug Curcumin

“…Chitosan is widely used in food and pharmaceutical industry and in biotechnology. This polysaccharide has been extensively studied in the field of biomaterials and because of its biological properties, biodegradability, bioactivity and biocompatibility it has attracted much attention [11][12][13][14][15][16]. Polymer blending is one of the useful ways to have new material with required properties and there have been great scientific and commercial progress in the area of polymer blends.…”

Antibacterial Activity and Drug Release of Chitosan Sponge Containing Doxycycline Hyclate

“…The chemical cross-linking notably enhances the flexibility, reduces the swelling index and also affects the release of active compounds. The applications of chitosan and its derivatives in the field of tissue engineering have been progressed and recognized (4). Chitosan sponge was especially claimed to be used in field of tissue engineering and also drug delivery.…”