Applications of Chitin and Its Derivatives in Biological Medicine

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Bae Keun Park¹ 

[1] Institute of Basic Medical Science, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, Wonju 220-701, Korea; E-Mail:

关键词: chitin;    chitosan;    antioxidant;    anticancer;    anti-inflammatory;    drug delivery;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms11125152

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Chitin and its derivatives—as a potential resource as well as multiple functional substrates—have generated attractive interest in various fields such as biomedical, pharmaceutical, food and environmental industries, since the first isolation of chitin in 1811. Moreover, chitosan and its chitooligosaccharides (COS) are degraded products of chitin through enzymatic and acidic hydrolysis processes; and COS, in particular, is well suited for potential biological application, due to the biocompatibility and nontoxic nature of chitosan. In this review, we investigate the current bioactivities of chitin derivatives, which are all correlated with their biomedical properties. Several new and cutting edge insights here may provide a molecular basis for the mechanism of chitin, and hence may aid its use for medical and pharmaceutical applications.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2010 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.