Design of Chitosan and Its Water Soluble Derivatives-Based Drug Carriers with Polyelectrolyte Complexes

Marine Drugs

Qing-Xi Wu¹  Dong-Qiang Lin²  Shan-Jing Yao² 

[1] Integrated Biotechnology Laboratory, School of Life Science, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China; E-Mail:;Key Laboratory of Biomass Chemical Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China; E-Mail:

关键词: chitosan;    water soluble chitosan;    drug carriers;    polyelectrolyte complexes;    targeted/controlled release;   

DOI  :  10.3390/md12126236

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

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.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.