Abstract
The term chitosan (CS) refers to a family of aminopolysaccharides derived from chitin. Among other properties, CS is nontoxic, mucoadhesive and can be used for load and transport drugs. Given these and other physicochemical and biological properties, CS is an optimal biopolymer for the development of transmucosal drug delivery systems, as well as for the treatment of pathologies related to mucosal dysfunctions. Mucins are glycoprotein macromolecules that are the major components of mucus overlaying epithelia. CS interacts with mucin and adsorbs on and changes the rheology of mucus. However, CS and mucins denote families of polymers/macromolecules with highly variable chemical structure, properties, and behavior. To date, their interactions at the molecular level have not been completely unraveled. Also, the properties of complexes composed of CS and mucin vary as a function of the sources and preparation of the polymers. As a consequence, the mucoadhesion and drug delivery properties of such complexes vary as well. The breadth of this review is on the molecular interactions between CS and mucin. In particular, in vitro and ex vivo characterization methods to investigate both the interactions at play during the formation of CS-mucin complexes, and the advances on the use of CS for transmucosal drug delivery are addressed.
Highlights
Epithelium comprises all the free surfaces of the body—the skin and the surfaces of internal cavities and tubular organs
Kootala et al [62] used CS with a degree of acetylation (DA) lower than 1% and different degree of polymerisation (DP), namely 8, 52, and 100, and different Mw (Table 2), and mucin purified from porcine stomach by themselves and bovine submaxillary mucin glandule (BSMG) to study the interaction of the CS and mucins and to prepare complexes that were applied on HT29-MTX cell cultures, a cell line that produces mucus
The specific domains implicated in these interactions have not been completelyuncovered, though it is known that the interactions are enhanced with the molecular weight and the degree of acetylation of the biopolymer [22,48]
Summary
Epithelium comprises all the free surfaces of the body—the skin and the surfaces of internal cavities and tubular organs. The most external layer of the epithelium is called the mucosa. The mucosa receives different names, i.e., oral, nasal, anal, gut, or intestinal mucosa. The exposure of epithelium to the external environment leads to several risks, such as the loss of water and the desiccation of surfaces, or the attack of bacteria, fungi, or viruses. To protect itself from risks derived from the exposure to environmental conditions or to pathogens, the more external layers of cells synthesize and secrete mucus
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