Abstract

Pulmonary administration is an effective method for treating lung and other diseases. Drugs can be transported directly to the lung by the pulmonary drug delivery system (PDDS). PDDS has the advantages of maintained local drug concentration, reduced side effects, controllable drug release, promoted drug absorption, prolonged drug action time, and improved patient compliance. Polymers have been extensively utilized to prepare novel PDDS. Among these polymers, chitosan (CS) is a natural cationic polysaccharide which is rich in its source. It has many unique physicochemical properties, good biocompatibility, and satisfactory biodegradability. CS has been a popular biomaterial in pharmaceutics for decades and is widely used in drug delivery. CS contains many amino groups. The contained positive charges can interact strongly with the negatively charged mucosa membranes, thereby facilitating CS adsorption on the mucosal surface, avoiding clearance by the cilia, and improving the adhesion and penetration rate on the cell membrane. Moreover, studies have shown that CS could open cell tight junctions, which would promote drug transportation across the epithelial tissue. Thus, CS is an especially suitable material for PDDS. In this chapter, we will focus on the research progress and the applications of CS in PDDS. Many representative and advanced studies on CS-based PDDS are reviewed in detail.

Highlights

  • In recent decades, with the continuous development of medical technology, people have achieved an in-depth understanding of lung functions and characteristics

  • Compared with the atomized injections currently used in clinic, the pulmonary administration preparations based on new pulmonary drug delivery system (PDDS) have the advantages of convenience, sustained or controlled drug release, prolonged drug action time, enhanced bioavailability, and improved therapeutic efficiency

  • The low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) was effectively delivered into the lung by the aerosolization of the drug-loaded NPs. These results revealed the promising characteristics of the CS-based NPs, which were highly applicable for PDDS

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Summary

Introduction

With the continuous development of medical technology, people have achieved an in-depth understanding of lung functions and characteristics. The drug delivery system (DDS), which transports drugs directly to the lung to produce local or systemic therapeutic effects, is known as the pulmonary drug delivery system (PDDS). Pulmonary administration is an ideal way for treating lung disease. It can significantly reduce the dosage, and decrease the drug distribution in nontarget tissues, thereby reducing the toxicity and side effects [5]. Due to the large absorption area of the lung and the lack of degrading enzymes, pulmonary administration can be used as a convenient and effective noninjection administration method for biomacromolecular drugs, such as proteins and nucleic acids [6–8]. The PDDS can maintain local drug concentration, reduce systemic side effects, control drug release, promote drug absorption, prolong the drug action time, and improve patient compliance. The research progress of PDDS and the applications of CS in PDDS are reviewed, and many representative and advanced studies on CS-based PDDS are enumerated in detail

The physiological basis of pulmonary administration
The characteristic and development of pulmonary administration
The basic properties of CS
Novel PDDS based on CS and its derivatives
CS-based microspheres
CS-based NPs
CS-modified liposomes
CS-based active targeting DDS
Future perspectives
Findings
Conclusions
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