Abstract
The initial degradation rates ( r) in human serum of three chitosans with F A = 0.42, 0.51, and 0.60 were determined by measuring the decrease in viscosity as a function of time. A strong increase in r with increasing F A of the chitosans was observed, with r increasing proportionally to F A 4.5. With increasing concentrations of lysozyme added to the reaction mixtures of chitosan and serum, the relative increase in degradation rate of chitosans with increasing F A was almost the same as that without lysozyme added. Addition of the chitinase inhibitor allosamidin (50 μM) did not inhibit the degradation rate of chitosan (F A = 0.60) by human serum. The results suggest that chitosans are actually mainly depolymerized by lysozyme in human serum, and not by other enzymes or other depolymerization mechanisms.
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