The role of chitosan as a mucoadhesive agent in mucosal drug delivery

Mucoadhesive properties of chitosan are supported by an exceedingly high number of papers and have been studied using a number of different methods. Also, the myriad of chitosan derivatives that have been synthesized and proposed for pharmaceutical use have been studied for mucoadhesion, looking at...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of drug delivery science and technology 2012, Vol.22 (4), p.275-284
Main Authors: G. Sandri, S. Rossi, Bonferoni, M.C., Ferrari, F., Mori, M., Caramella, C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Biological substrates
chitosan
Chitosans
Drug delivery
Environmental conditions
General pharmacology
Hydration
Medical sciences
mucin
Mucoadhesion
Mucosa
Mucosal dosage forms
nanoparticles
Pharmaceutical technology. Pharmaceutical industry
Pharmaceuticals
Pharmacology. Drug treatments
Reviews
Testing methods
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Summary:Mucoadhesive properties of chitosan are supported by an exceedingly high number of papers and have been studied using a number of different methods. Also, the myriad of chitosan derivatives that have been synthesized and proposed for pharmaceutical use have been studied for mucoadhesion, looking at the changes in mucoadhesivity induced by structure modifications. The review will briefly recall the possible mechanisms involved in chitosan mucoadhesivity, among which ionic interactions with mucin chains and hydration state are the prevailing ones. Furthermore, adhesion mechanism inevitably depends on the environmental conditions as well as on the type of physical and pharmaceutical form considered. Therefore, the testing methods used for mucoadhesivity should be carefully chosen. The present review will report on the experience acquired by the authors in the field. The focus will be on some examples of liquid, semisolid, solid and nanoparticulate formulations based on either chitosan or chitosan derivatives and on how it is possible to choose the most suitable testing method depending on the envisaged mucoadhesion mechanism and on the physical/pharmaceutical form under examination.
ISSN:1773-2247
DOI:10.1016/S1773-2247(12)50046-8