Abstract
Chitosan, the cationic polysaccharide derived from the natural polysaccharide chitin, has been studied as a biomaterial for more than two decades. As a polycationic polymer with favorable properties, it has been widely used to form polyelectrolyte complexes with polyanions for various applications in drug delivery fields. In recent years, a growing number of studies have been focused on the preparation of polyelectrolyte complexes based on chitosan and its water soluble derivatives. They have been considered well-suited as biomaterials for a number of vital drug carriers with targeted/controlled release profiles, e.g., films, capsules, microcapsules. In this work, an overview highlights not only the favorable properties of chitosan and its water soluble derivatives but also the good performance of the polyelectrolyte complexes produced based on chitosan. Their various types of applications as drug carriers are reviewed in detail.
Highlights
With nonrenewable resources running out all over the world, more and more polysaccharides from the natural world have been explored as advanced functional biomaterials and new energy resources, especially in recent years
As a macromolecule with positive charges, chitosan and water soluble chitosan (WSC) can chemically conjugate with a lot of anionic substrates forming polyelectrolyte complexes (PEC)
It had been confirmed that the toxicological side effects of chitosan are dependent on the molecular weight, degree of deacetylation and charge density of the molecule, the toxicity is related to the molecular weight when at a high degree of deacetylation and it increases with increasing density [36]
Summary
With nonrenewable resources running out all over the world, more and more polysaccharides from the natural world have been explored as advanced functional biomaterials and new energy resources, especially in recent years. Chitosan is able to dissolve in acidic solutions, becoming a polycationic polymer with a high density of positive charges (–NH3+ groups) It has favorable biological properties, such as no-toxicity, mucoadhesiveness, biocompatibility and, more importantly, the biodegradability, which means it could be digested by the bacteria in the human colon [1,2,3]. As a macromolecule with positive charges, chitosan and WSC can chemically conjugate with a lot of anionic substrates forming polyelectrolyte complexes (PEC) These anionic substrates include both polyanionic polymers and small molecular substances, such as sodium alginate [15,16], hyaluronic acid [17], sodium cellulose sulfate (NaCS) [18], glutaraldehyde [19], genipin [20].
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