Chitin and Chitosan Derivatives as Biomaterial Resources for Biological and Biomedical Applications

Abstract

Chitin is a long-chain polymer of N-acetyl-glucosamine, which is regularly found in the exoskeleton of arthropods including insects, shellfish and the cell wall of fungi. It has been known that chitin can be used for biological and biomedical applications, especially as a biomaterial for tissue repairing, encapsulating drug for drug delivery. However, chitin has been postulated as an inducer of proinflammatory cytokines and certain diseases including asthma. Likewise, chitosan, a long-chain polymer of N-acetyl-glucosamine and d-glucosamine derived from chitin deacetylation, and chitosan oligosaccharide, a short chain polymer, have been known for their potential therapeutic effects, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antidiarrheal, and anti-Alzheimer effects. This review summarizes potential utilization and limitation of chitin, chitosan and chitosan oligosaccharide in a variety of diseases. Furthermore, future direction of research and development of chitin, chitosan, and chitosan oligosaccharide for biomedical applications is discussed.

Antimicrobial Actions and Applications of Chitosan

“…However, the antimicrobial effect of chitosan is observed only in acidic environments. Thus, due to the low solubility and lack of a positive charge at neutral pH, a large number of chitosan derivatives modified with amine (N-modified) and hydroxyl (O-modified) groups by acylation, carboxylation, alkylation, and quaternatization have been developed and investigated [ 43 , 58 , 97 , 119 , 120 , 132 , 133 , 142 , 172 , 173 , 174 , 175 , 176 ]. Furthermore, the secondary hydroxyl groups (C3-OH), which are difficult to modify, cause large steric hindrance.…”

Chitosan-Based Anti-Oxidation Delivery Nano-Platform: Applications in the Encapsulation of DHA-Enriched Fish Oil

“…Such characteristics make chitosan suitable for the encapsulation and delivery of lipophilic compounds [ 15 , 16 ]. In particular, chitosan exhibits many health benefits, helping one to resist ulcers, lowering cholesterol, reducing blood lipids, and helping in the prevention of coeliac disease [ 17 , 18 ]; based on the above benefits, chitosan is a suitable wall material that can be used for the encapsulation of drugs [ 19 ] and can help to achieving the purpose of controlled delivery [ 20 ].…”

Chitosan-Based Scaffold for Mineralized Tissues Regeneration

“…Chitosan, a naturalbased biopolymer, is a deacetylated form of chitin, a major by-product of crustacean shells. Currently, chitosan has attained enormous attention in several industrial applications, including biomedicine, antibacterial food coating, and the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries [3,4]. Chitosan has received significant interest in bone regeneration [5] because it presents outstanding properties, such as being environmentally friendly, good biocompatibility, sustained drug release, biodegradable, and antimicrobial effects.…”