Chitosan-Alginate Microparticles as a Protein Carrier

Abstract

The oral administration of peptidic drugs requires their protection from degradation in the gastric environment and the improvement of their absorption in the intestinal tract. For these requirements, a microsystem based on cross-linked alginate as the carrier of bovine serum albumin (BSA), used as a model protein, was proposed. A spray-drying technique was applied to BSA/sodium alginate solutions to obtain spherical particles having a mean diameter less than 10 microm. The microparticles were hardened using first a solution of calcium chloride and then a solution of chitosan (CS) to obtain stable microsystems. The cross-linking process was carried out at different CS concentrations and pH values of the cross-linking medium. The CS concentration affected the BSA loading in the microparticles prepared at a pH value less than the protein isoelectric point (pI). Moreover, the BSA loading at a pH value less than the pI was higher than that at a pH similar to the pI regardless of the CS concentration. This finding could be attributable to the formation of a BSA/alginate complex. The evaluation of the interaction between BSA and alginate at different pH values by means rheological measurements confirmed this hypothesis. This approach may represent a promising way to devise a microcarrier system with appropriate size for targeting the Peyer's patches, with appropriate immobilization capacity, and suitable for the oral administration of peptidic drugs.

Chitosan Nanoparticles: A Promising System in Novel Drug Delivery

“…22,[44][45][46] The size of the complexes can be varied from 50 to 700 nm. 22,44) Chitosan and Alg are polycation and polyanion polyelectrolyte respectively, that can be used to form a polyelectrolyte complex for the delivery of proteins, 47) peptide drugs 48) and DNA. 49) Fourier transform (FT)-IR spectra of insulin-loaded nanoparticles revealed amide absorption bands characteristic of protein (loaded in nanoparticles) spectra and confirms the formation of new chemical entities.…”

Avances tecnológicos en la producción de alginatos en México

“…La elaboración de material de impresión dental (Reyes et al, 2004) y la inmovilización de organismos benéfi cos para el tratamiento de aguas residuales y como promotores del crecimiento de plantas (Yabur et al, 2007), son tecnologías que ya se encuentran estudiadas en México. Cada día se descubren más usos para estos compuestos en diferentes industrias y la mayoría de los estudios recientes sobre el tema de los alginatos se ha concentrado en nuevas aplicaciones como: acarreadores de proteínas (Coppi et al, 2001); intercambiadores de metales (Davis et al, 2004;De Stefano et al, 2005); incorporación en textiles (Gorenšek y Bukošek, 2006); inmovilización de levaduras (Pajic et al, 2007); micro encapsulados (Schuldt y Hunkeler, 2007;Mørc, 2008); absorción de radiación ultravioleta (Tavares, 2007); control de la colitis ulcerativa (Alireza et al, 2008), promotor del crecimiento de las raíces de las plantas terrestres (Iwasaki y Matsubara, 2000). Entre los usos indirectos, se encuentra que los residuos del proceso de extracción de alginatos, pueden ser utilizados como fertilizante, ya que la bacteria Gracilibacilus (A7) degrada el alginato a oligosacáridos durante el proceso de composta (Tang et al, 2009).…”

Thiolated Chitosans: Novel Polymers for Mucoadhesive Drug Delivery – A Review

“…In contrast, microparticles that are based on thiolated chitosan do not disintegrate. Because of the formation of disulfide bonds within the polymeric network, microparticles are strongly stabilized 49 . Consequently, a controlled drug release out of thiolated chitosan microparticles can be provided.…”