Chitosan has been investigated as an excipient in the pharmaceutical industry, to be used in direct tablet compression, as a tablet disintegrant, for the production of controlled release solid dosage forms or for the improvement of drug dissolution. Chitosan has, compared to traditional excipients, been shown to have superior characteristics and especially flexibility in its use. Furthermore, chitosan has been used for production of controlled release implant systems for delivery of hormones over extended periods of time. Lately, the transmucosal absorption promoting characteristics of chitosan has been exploited especially for nasal and oral delivery of polar drugs to include peptides and proteins and for vaccine delivery. These properties, together with the very safe toxicity profile, makes chitosan an exciting and promising excipient for the pharmaceutical industry for present and future applications.

Chitosan and Its Use as a Pharmaceutical Excipient

Chitosan microspheres as a potential carrier for drugs

The aim of this review is to give an insight into the many potential applications of chitosan as a pharmaceutical drug carrier. The first part of this review concerns the principal uses of chitosan as an excipient in oral formulations (particularly as a direct tableting agent) and as a vehicle for parenteral drug delivery devices. The use of chitosan to manufacture sustained-release systems deliverable by other routes (nasal, ophthalmic, transdermal, and implantable devices) is discussed in the second part.

Chitosan: A Unique Polysaccharide for Drug Delivery

Chitosan, a natural polysaccharide, is being widely used as a pharmaceutical excipient. It is obtained by the partial deacetylation of chitin, the second most abundant natural polymer. Chitosan comprises a series of polymers varying in their degree of deacetylation, molecular weight, viscosity, pKa etc. The presence of a number of amino groups permit chitosan to chemically react with anionic systems, thereby resulting in alteration of physicochemical characteristics of such combinations. Chitosan has found wide applicability in conventional pharmaceutical devices as a potential formulation excipient, some of which include binding, disintegrating and tablet coating properties. The polymer has also been investigated as a potential adjuvant for swellable controlled drug delivery systems. Use of chitosan in novel drug delivery as mucoadhesive, gene and peptide drug administration via the oral route as well as its absorption enhancing effects have been explored by a number of researchers. Chitosan exhibits myriad biological actions, namely hypocholesterolemic, antimicrobial and wound healing properties. Low toxicity coupled with wide applicability makes it a promising candidate not only for the purpose of drug delivery for a host of drug moieties (antiinflammatories, peptides etc.) but also as a biologically active agent. It is the endeavour of the present review to provide an insight into the biological and pharmaceutical profile of chitosan. Various investigations carried out recently are reported, although references to research performed on chitosan prior to the recent reviews have also been included, where appropriate.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1211/0022357011776441

Chitosan: some pharmaceutical and biological aspects--an update.

In vivo biocompatibility and degradability of a novel injectable-chitosan-based implant.

To increase cisplatin (CDDP) content, to suppress burst effect during the initial phase of drug release, and to improve the capacity of the system for sustained release, we prepared various types of CDDP chitosan microspheres incorporating chitin and investigated the content of CDDP and its in vitro release kinetics from these microspheres. The results of this study showed that the CDDP content increased with increasing chitosan concentration and that the incorporation of chitin in the carrier matrix produced a more pronounced increase in drug content. The addition of chitin also led to inhibition of the initial burst effect. The rate of CDDP release reduced with increasing concentration of chitosan: that is, the 50% CDDP release time was about 0.5 h with the microspheres prepared with 1.0% of chitosan and about 4.5 h with those prepared with 5.0% of chitosan, indicating about nine-fold prolongation. The addition of chitin further resulted in retardation of the rate of CDDP release. Meanwhile, our chitosan microspheres were shown to undergo enzymatic degradation by lysozymes.

Release characteristics of cisplatin chitosan microspheres and effect of containing chitin.

Cisplatin (CDDP) containing albumin microspheres and microcapsules incorporating biodegradable macromolecules, chitin and chitosan, were prepared, and their CDDP content and releasing ability and susceptibility to various enzymes were examined. Chitin was incorporated during preparation of the microspheres, while chitosan was used to treat preformed microspheres. CDDP content was remarkably increased by chitin; when chitin was incorporated at a concentration of 1.5%, the CDDP content of the microspheres was found to be 16.2% (1.8 times that with no addition of chitin). CDDP release was suppressed by chitin and chitosan. The 50% CDDP release time was about 1.5 h when no chitin was added, but about 16 h was required when chitin was incorporated into the microspheres at a concentration of 1.5%. Chitin and chitosan suppressed the decomposition by protease. The microspheres treated with 70% deacetylated chitosan showed the greatest susceptibility to lysozyme. In conclusion, CDDP release can be controlled by the use of chitin or chitosan, and the microspheres should show no immunogenicity in vivo because of their susceptibility to lysozyme.

Preparation and Release Characteristics of Cisplatin Albumin Microspheres Containing Chitin and Treated with Chitosan

Hepatic artery of dogs was embolized with cisplatin (CDDP) albumin microspheres containing chitin and chitosan to investigate the in vivo CDDP release kinetics from CDDP albumin microspheres, the CDDP cumulative characteristics in the liver, and the influence of microsphere administration on hepatic tissue. Results showed that changes in blood CDDP content were dependent on CDDP albumin microsphere type and that release kinetics were better sustained when chitin was added to the microspheres or when the microspheres were treated with chitosan. In particular, the administration of CDDP in the chitin-containing CDDP chitosan albumin microspheres showed a blood CDDP content of approximately 0.26μg Pt/ml 14d after administration. The administration of chitin-containing ro chitosan treated CDDP microspheres showed a CDDP content in the hepatic tissue of 0.14 to 0.23μg Pt/g 28d after administration.They also showed better control of CDDP release than those without chitin or chitosan treatment. No CDDP influence on hepatic tissue was observed. We conclude that, even in vivo, chitin and chitosan are effective embolic materials.

A study of embolizing materials for chemo-embolization therapy of hepatocellular carcinoma: embolic effect of cisplatin albumin microspheres using chitin and chitosan in dogs, and changes of cisplatin content in blood and tissue.

Albumin microspheres and microcapsules containing cisplatin (CDDP) were prepared and tested as chemotherapeutic agents for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. CDDP albumin microspheres were prepared by hardening with glutaric aldehyde in accordance with the method to prepare W/O emulsion. On the other hand, microcapsules were prepared by formation of a coacervate by the phase isolation method. CDDP albumin microspheres and microcapsules thus prepared were sieved and sterilized by dry heat at 135 degrees C for 4h prior to use. The content and release of CDDP were determined. The CDDP contents for albumin microspheres and microcapsules were found to be 9.2% and 33.3%, respectively. Release of CDDP in vitro was found to be significantly different between the two formulations. CDDP release in vivo was also investigated by injecting albumin microspheres and microcapsules into the hepatic artery of adult dogs. The blood CDDP concentrations after injection of both formulations were lower than those noted after injection of CDDP injectable solution, indicating that CDDP might be accumulated in the liver at a higher concentration and that use of the two formulations might result in alleviation of CDDP side effects.

Kenichi Ito

Papers

Release characteristics of cisplatin chitosan microspheres and effect of containing chitin.

Preparation and Release Characteristics of Cisplatin Albumin Microspheres Containing Chitin and Treated with Chitosan

A study of embolizing materials for chemo-embolization therapy of hepatocellular carcinoma: embolic effect of cisplatin albumin microspheres using chitin and chitosan in dogs, and changes of cisplatin content in blood and tissue.

Preparation and evaluation of albumin microspheres and microcapsules containing cisplatin.

Application of the Preliminary SLE Classification Criteria by American Rhuematism Association to autoimmune hepatitis