Preparation, characterization, and potential application of chitosan, chitosan derivatives, and chitosan metal nanoparticles in pharmaceutical drug delivery

Drug Design, Development and Therapy Dovepress open access to scientific and medical research Review Drug Design, Development and Therapy downloaded from https://www.dovepress.com/ by 54.37.117.73 on 12-Jul-2018 For personal use only. Open Access Full Text Article Preparation, characterization, and potential application of chitosan, chitosan derivatives, and chitosan metal nanoparticles in pharmaceutical drug delivery This article was published in the following Dove Press journal: Drug Design, Development and Therapy 28 January 2016 Number of times this article has been viewed Tarek A Ahmed 1,2 Bader M Aljaeid 1 Department of Pharmaceutics and Industrial Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; 2 Department of Pharmaceutics and Industrial Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt 1 Introduction Correspondence: Tarek A Ahmed Department of Pharmaceutics and Industrial Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, PO Box 80200, Jeddah 21589, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Tel +966 5 9982 8003 Email Drug delivery is a general term that refers to formulation and administration of a pharmacologically active compound for the purpose of providing an efficient drug plasma concentration, as well as bringing the drug to the specific site of action. Different strategies have been employed to overcome some drug stability issues in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT), control the drug release, enhance the transmucosal absorption, as well as get the drug into its site of action. Microfabrication is a technique that creates materials in the micrometer scale feature and has been reported to significantly improve diagnosis and biomedical applications. Modification of the material shape, surface characteristics, and release kinetics is a consequence of this micronization.1 Nanotechnology has been utilized as one of these strategies in the development of novel drug delivery systems through entrapment of the drug in nanoparticulate systems.2 In general, the potential applications of nanotechnology render this field an area of interest to many researchers and scientists. These applications have covered different scientific areas that extend from electronics to cosmetics.3–5 Polymers obtained from natural origins have been extensively employed not only in the food industry but also in pharmaceutical technology. Polysaccharide polymers have emerged as being one of these because they are less toxic, biocompatible, and biodegradable.6,7 Incorporation of the therapeutic agent into a polymeric matrix, 483 submit your manuscript | www.dovepress.com Drug Design, Development and Therapy 2016:10 483–507 Dovepress © 2016 Ahmed and Aljaeid. This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/). By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms (https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php). http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/DDDT.S99651 Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org) Abstract: Naturally occurring polymers, particularly of the polysaccharide type, have been used pharmaceutically for the delivery of a wide variety of therapeutic agents. Chitosan, the second abundant naturally occurring polysaccharide next to cellulose, is a biocompatible and biodegradable mucoadhesive polymer that has been extensively used in the preparation of microas well as nanoparticles. The prepared particles have been exploited as a potential carrier for different therapeutic agents such as peptides, proteins, vaccines, DNA, and drugs for parenteral and nonparenteral administration. Therapeutic agent-loaded chitosan micro- or nanoparticles were found to be more stable, permeable, and bioactive. In this review, we are highlighting the different methods of preparation and characterization of chitosan micro- and nanoparticles, while reviewing the pharmaceutical applications of these particles in drug delivery. Moreover, the roles of chitosan derivatives and chitosan metal nanoparticles in drug delivery have been illustrated. Keywords: nanoparticles, microparticles, preparation, characterization, pharmaceutical application Dovepress Drug Design, Development and Therapy downloaded from https://www.dovepress.com/ by 54.37.117.73 on 12-Jul-2018 For personal use only. Ahmed and Aljaeid particularly of a natural origin, might potentiate the protection of the biologically active compound from degradation, control drug release, improve absorption, enhance the therapeutic effect, and lead to the consequential decrease in the frequency of administration. Chitosan, alginate, and carrageenan are the most commonly used polysaccharide polymers in various pharmaceutical applications.6–12 Chitosan is a polymer of interest that has been widely used for delivery of different therapeutic agents, particularly those based on chitosan micro- and nanoparticles, owing to its unique properties. Preparation of mucoadhesive formulations, enhancing the dissolution rate especially for poorly watersoluble drugs, utilization in drug targeting, and improvement of protein absorption are common therapeutic applications of this naturally occurring polymer.13 In this review, the importance of chitosan, as a naturally occurring polysaccharide polymer, and its derivatives in drug delivery are illustrated. The different methods of preparation and characterization of chitosan micro- and nanoparticles are addressed. The usefulness of these particles in parenteral and nonparenteral drug delivery is demonstrated. Finally, a very specific application of chitosan in the preparation of metal-based nanoparticles is clarified, establishing the advantages of chitosan metal nanoparticles over the metal nanoparticles. Chitosan as a polymeric drug carrier Chitosan is a molecule with a carbohydrate backbone structure similar to cellulose, which consists of two types of repeating units, N-acetyl-d-glucosamine and d-glucosamine, linked by (1-4)-β-glycosidic linkage.14 It is a biopolyaminosaccharide cationic polymer that is obtained from chitin by alkaline deacetylation and characterized by the presence of a large numbers of amino groups on its chain (Figure 1). Although chitosan is obtained from chitin, the applications of the latter compared to chitosan are limited because it is chemically inert. A common method for chitosan synthesis is the deacetylation of chitin, usually derived from the &+2+ 1+ 2 2 Q 2 2 1+&2&+ 1DFHW\OJOXFRVDPLQHXQLW &+2+ *OXFRVDPLQHXQLW Figure 1 Chemical structure of chitosan showing the repeating (...truncated)