Chitosan Polymeric Nanoparticles: A Drug Delivery System Overview

This report provides a comprehensive overview of chitosan polymeric nanoparticles, focusing on their application as a drug delivery system. It begins with an introduction to the concept of targeted drug delivery and the advantages of using chitosan due to its biodegradability and biocompatibility. The discussion covers the properties of chitosan nanoparticles, including their positive surface charge and mucoadhesive properties. The report details various preparation methods, including cross-linking techniques (physical and chemical), drying techniques (spray drying, freeze drying), and the reverse micellar method. It also explores the applications of chitosan nanoparticles, such as drug delivery, bio-detection of pathogens, and fluorescent labeling. The report highlights the use of chitosan nanoparticles for encapsulating various drugs, including anticancer drugs, antibiotics, and vaccines, and their role in enhancing immune responses and detecting proteins. It concludes by emphasizing the efficiency and safety of chitosan nanoparticles in healthcare research and their potential for future therapeutic applications.

Running Head: CHITOSAN POLYMERIC NANOPARTICLES
CHITOSAN POLYMERIC NANOPARTICLES
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................2
Discussion......................................................................................................................2
Preparation.................................................................................................................3
Cross-linking Techniques.......................................................................................3
Drying Techniques.................................................................................................3
Reverse micellar method........................................................................................3
Application.................................................................................................................4
Conclusion......................................................................................................................5
References......................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
The drug delivery system are designed in such a manner that there is a targeted
delivery of the drug. The system also aims to the controlled release of therapeutic agents. For
a long time, there has been the use of drugs in order to improve health and also to improve
the quality of life (Tiyaboonchai 2013). However, the practice of delivering the drug to the
target site has changed over the past few years and the biomedical engineers have contributed
a lot to the understanding of the various physiological barriers that will increase the efficacy
of the drug delivery. This includes the circulation of the drug and movement of the drug
through the cells and tissues. The drug delivery system now-a-days have made a significant
impact on the healthcare system (Rampino et al. 2013). There are a number of research that
has shown that the delivery of the drug can be classified in four main categories that includes
routes of delivery, cargo, delivery vehicles and the targeting strategies. The chitosan based
nanoparticles provide various applications including the sustained release and the usage of
the chitosan is helpful as it is biodegradable and does not harm the human body. The main
objective of the essay is to find the ways of chitosan delivery system to the targeted organ
along with its various applications and preparation of the nanoparticles (Ahmad and Aljaed
2016; Khan 2017).
Discussion
The nanoparticles that are prepared from the chitosan and its derivatives typically
have a positive surface charge along with the mucoadhesive properties that help the particles
to adhere to the mucus membranes and also release the drug after the in a sustained manner
(Rampino et al. 2013). The chitosan has a chemical functional group that can be altered so as
to achieve the specific aim of converting it into a polymer so that it can be used as a vehicle
in the delivery of the drug via numerous routes. Chitosan is extensively used as a component
of nanoparticle as it shows low toxicity both in the in vivo and the in vitro experimental
model (Tiyaboonchai 2013). As the mucosal route is gaining a lot of attention for the
preparation of the noninvasive drug delivery through the oral, pulmonary, nasal or vaginal
routes the use of chitosan nanoparticles has also been increased (Zhang et al. 2014). The
polymeric nanoparticle drug delivery system has a lot of potential as they are biodegradable,
biocompatible along with the fact there are a number of formulation methods that can be used
to make a number of different drugs. It also provides the ability to prepare the drug as per the

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different drugs composition that leads to the preparation of a wide range of drug with various
class and dosages (Saharan et al. 2013).
Preparation
The preparation of the chitosan-based nanoparticles include the cross-linking
techniques, drying technique, reverse micellar technique and the emulsion cross-linking
technique. All these methods poses different advantages to the nanoparticles and also
increases the stability of the nanoparticles (Rampino et al. 2013; Kharisova et al. 2014). The
cross-linking technique is made with thermo sensitive technique like proteins, hormones,
peptides, vaccines, antigens or plasmid DNA. The other techniques provide additional
benefits to the nanoparticles apart from solvent evaporation and sieving (Hossenini et al.
2013; Ahmad et al. 2016).
Cross-linking Techniques
Physical and chemical cross-linking are the two types of techniques that fall under
this category. Among the two, physical cross-linking technique is the most commonly used
tool as the procedure is simple and does not involve any organic substance or high
temperature (Ahmad and Aljaed 2016). These advantages make it much more efficient than
its counterpart and it is also safe for the production of the peptides, hormones, vaccines that
can be loaded into the chitosan particles. In chemical cross-linking formation of nanoparticles
depend on a chemical reaction that occurs between the primary amino groups of chitosan and
the cross-linking agent. The most commonly used cross-linkers are the glutaraldehyde,
ascorbyl palmitate, p-pthaldehyde. The addition of certain additives might affect the stability
as well as the efficiency of the chitosan to encapsulate the therapeutic agent and also to
decrease the amount of leakage from the particles (Zhang et al. 2014; Kharisova et al. 2014).
Drying Techniques
It is the process that involves the removal of water or solvent from the solids,
semisolids or liquids from evaporation. Here, the vapor that is generated is removed by the
help of vacuum. The general methods of drying involve hot air, microwave, spray drying,
freeze drying, and natural air drying (Gregory, A.E., Williamson, D. and Titball, R., 2013).
Among these methods spray drying and super crtica; drying is the mostly used way for the
preparation of the chitosan particles. These methods are generally used as they are simple,
can adapt well with the incorporated drug and also have the ability to generate particles that
are various sizes and are of higher stability (Paques et al. 2014; Ahmad et al. 2016).

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Reverse micellar method
Micelles are generally an aggregate of molecule in a colloidal solution that is
generated by the detergents. Reverse micelles are nanometer in size and are formed as water
droplets. This is due to the effect of surfactants in the organic solvent that forms the micelles.
The method of preparation includes the aqueous solution of the drug chitosan that should be
added to the mixture off solution that contains organic solvent along with the surfactant
molecules (Saharan et al. 2013; Zhao et al. 2014). A cross-linker is also added to the solution
so that there is complete cross-linking between the micelles and the chitosan particles. In
order to remove the surfactant, the dried mass is dispersed in liquid and a suitable salt is
added to carry out the salting in and salting out process. Then the chitosan nanoparticles
loaded with drug are then recovered by the process of centrifugation (Woranuch and Yoksan,
2013; Jhonson et al. 2014).
Application
The application of the chitosan nanoparticles in the drug delivery system has been
tremendous. This includes use of particles as a carrier for the delivery of the drug to the target
organ within the body, bio detection of the pathogens inside the body, fluorescent labels and
the detection of protein inside the body (Paques et al. 2014; Zhao et al. 2014).
Chitosan particles have been encapsulated with different classes of drug that includes
anticancer drugs, antibiotics, antihistaminic are some of them. Other than these methods,
chitosan derivatives have been used for the delivery of the vaccines and also as a carrier for a
non-viral vector gene (Kreuter 2014; Saharan et al. 2013). Chitosan nanoparticles can be used
for the enhancement of the immune system, generation of inflammatory responses, colony-
stimulating factors and the macrophage colony stimulating factors. There are a number of
vaccine antigens for example, hepatitis B surface protein, cholera toxins that have been
loaded into the nanoparticles (Hu, Sun and Wu 2013; Zhao et al. 2014).
The use of the nanoparticles for the detection of protein is widely used in the
immunohistochemistry. The surface scattered Raman scattering is a very well-known method
for the identification and the detection of the molecules. The nanoparticles are coated with a
hydrophilic oligonucleotides that have Raman dye at one end and the on the other end have
the molecule that is to be recognized (Hosseini et al. 2015; Jhonson et al. 2014). The Raman
dye helps in the detection of the protein molecule using a standard Raman microscope. Apart
from identifying a probe it can also identify the attached antibodies on the surface so that the

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proteins can be identified. The process also shows little or less cross-reactivity (Abdel et al.
2014).
The use of proteomics and genomics is increasing rapidly. This has generated the use
of chitosan nanoparticles as fluorescent labels that help in the detection of the molecules. The
chitosan molecules are labeled with fluorescein that help in the detection of the labeled
molecule (Shin et al. 2013; Gregory et al. 2013). The labeled chitosan can transport across
the cell members and can show a concentration-dependent signal at 37ºC. The fluorescent
molecules in the chitosan particulate system have high efficiency for the entrapment of the
molecule and the detection of the same. The advantages of using the chitosan nanoparticles
inside the living system are that the polymer is biodegradable and also less toxic to the human
body. This helps in the use of the system for the better detection of the particle level inside
the body (He et al. 2017; Hu, Sun and Wu 2013).
The detection as well the sorting of the pathogens inside the human body can also be
done by the chitosan nanoparticles. The use of the chitosan nanoparticles along with the
fluorescence as a label helps in the detection of the pathogenic bacteria with the help of the
flow cytometry (Younes and Rinaudo 2015; Khan 2017). As the chitosan particles are
adhesive thus, the use of nano-magnetic particles can be used to sort the bacterial pathogen
inside the living cell. FACS is the most commonly used device for the cell sorting and the
device are based on the method of thee single cell detection by the scattering of light and the
immunofluorescence as a labeling signal. The use of the nanoparticles system is very much
sensitive in the detection of the pathogen level and also for the sorting of the cell inside the
living cell (Sathiyabama and Parthasarathy, 2016; Shin et al. 2013).
Conclusion
Thus, it can be concluded that the chitosan nanoparticles is a highly efficient method
that is rapidly used in the healthcare research. As chitosan are biodegradable as well as
noninvasive thus it becomes a lot safer to use the particle inside the body as a drug delivery
system along with other uses. This report highlights the various methods through which the
chitosan nanoparticles are prepared. It shows the various ways in which the particles can be
prepared for the loading of the drug. The report highlights the various applications of the
chitosan-based nanoparticles like the use as a drug delivery system, use as a label and use for
the detection of pathogen. The successful delivery and the loading of the various molecules
that includes the low-molecular weight drugs and the other macromolecules such as peptides,

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proteins, hormones, vaccines, and genes have potential therapeutic application via the
chitosan based drug delivery system. The development of the chitosan derivatives has further
improved the applications off the nanoparticles. As the bioavailability off the chitosan
molecule increases it also increases the stability, solubility, permeability of the cell
membranes and the mucoadhesiveness, absorption, bio-distribution and the targeting of the
tissue within the body. The report also highlights the fact that chitosan nanoparticles are the
best in compared to other alternatives as it is biodegradable, less toxic, more stable as well as
much more available.

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