Chitosan is a linear polysaccharide produced by the deacetylation of chitin, a naturally occurring polymer. The effect of the degree of deacetylation on properties such as solubility and antimicrobial activity have been studied in several articles.
1,2 Chitosan is widely used in a range of diverse fields, including waste management, medicine, food and agriculture.
Chitosan has unique biological properties such as biocompatibility, antimicrobial, biogradeable, mucoadhesion, anticholesterolemic and permeation enhancement effects. These properties have led to its increased utility in specific applications such as antibacterial/anti-biofouling coatings
3, controlled release coatings
4 and microcapsules
5, nanofiltration
6, drug delivery hydrogels
7, gene delivery
8 and tissue engineering scaffolds. For biomedical applications aiming to reach
in vivo testing, chitosan derived from non-animal origin (
740500,
740063, and
740179) is preferred.
9 References:
1. Anthonsen, M.W.; Varum, K.M.; Smidsrod, O.
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2. Wang, W.; Bo, S.; Li, S.; Qin, W.
Int. J. Bio. Macromol. 1991,
13, 281.
3. Nigmatullin, R.; Konovalova, V.; Pobigay, G.
J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2009,
111, 1697.
4. Qiu, X.; Leporatti, S.; Donath, E.; Moehwald, H.
Langmuir 2001,
17, 5375.
5. Miller, M.D.; Bruening, M.L.
Chem. Mater. 2005,
17, 5375.
6. Berger, J.; Reist, M.; Mayer, J. M.; Felt, O.; Gurny, R.
Eur. J. Pharm. Biopharm. 2004,
57, 35.
7. Polk, A.; Amsden, B.; De Yao, K.; Peng, T.; Goosen, M. F. A.
J. Pharm. Sci. 1994,
83, 178.
8. Agnihotri, S.A.; Mallikarjuna, N.N.; Aminabhavi, T.M.
J. Control. Release 2004,
100, 5.
9. Gautier, S.
Drug Delivery Technology 2009,
9, 20.
