Application of chitosan and its derivatives in drug delivery

Drug delivery is a method of delivering drug to the patients in a way which increases the concentration of drug to the relevant site by directing the drug to the specific site of action. Polymeric drug delivery systems are mostly preferred to take the drug to the specific site of action and achieve the therapeutic effect. Among different types of biocompatible polymers, carbohydrate-based polymers or polysaccharides are the most common natural polymers with complex structures consisting of long chains of monosaccharide or disaccharide units bound by glycosidic linkages. One such polymer is chitosan which is used in drug delivery. Chitosan’s appealing properties, especially of natural origin, may mediate the protection against degradation of the biologically active substance, control the release of the drug, boost the absorption, increase the physiological action and result in a consequent reduction in the rate of administration. Another advantage of using chitosan is its chemical structure that could be modified easily which makes chitosan derivatives used for different applications. The main objective is to provide an overview on chitosan and its derivatives applications in drug delivery.

Advances in Nanomaterials-Based Carrier System for the Treatment of Breast Cancer

Nanotherapeutics for the cure of breast cancer remains unswervingly succeeding and being practiced to eradicate innumerable restrictions of conventional practice obtainable for the supervision of breast cancer. Nanoparticles offer an interdisciplinary extent for exploration in imaging, diagnosis and targeting of breast cancer. Through a progressive physicochemical features and improved bioavailability, they spectacle persistent blood circulation through effective tumor targeting. Nanoparticles remain capable to diminish cytotoxic consequence of the active anticancer medications through amassed cancer cell targeting in contrast to conventional preparations. Several nanoparticles-based preparations remain in the preclinical and clinical phases of progress; amongst them, polymeric drug micelles, liposomes, and dendrimer, remain the utmost common. In this review, we have conferred the role of nanoparticles through detail to oncology, by predominantly aiming on the breast cancer and several nanodelivery systems practiced for targeting action and signaling forces through further intracellular pathways in breast cancer.

Chitosan and its Use as a Polymeric Drug Carrier Material in Dosage Form Design- A Critical Review

The prime goal in the drug therapy of any disease is to attain the desired therapeutic concentration of the drug in plasma or at the site of action and maintain it for the entire duration of treatment. To minimize drug degradation/loss, prevent harmful side effects and to increase drug bioavailability various drug delivery and drug targeting systems are presently under investigation. Chitosan has been the subject of interest for its use as a polymeric drug carrier material in dosage form design due to its appealing properties such as biocompatibility, biodegradability, low toxicity and relatively low production cost from abundant natural sources. Microspheres are the choice of drug delivery system for the controlled release of drugs, vaccines, antibiotics, and hormones for specific target sites. There are various methods that can be used to encapsulate drugs within chitosan matrixes such as ionotropic gelation, spray drying, emulsification-solvent evaporation, co-acervation, double layer coating and many more. Combinations of these practices are also used in order to obtain micro-particles with specific properties and performances. Double-layer coating method is used to prevent the loss of encapsulated materials in the acidic medium. The microspheres should be coated with another polymer that forms a membrane on the surface. Due to the bilayer properties, the micro carriers additionally protected against acidic conditions of the stomach and drug releases in the intestine in a better controlled manner. This review focused on the techniques applied directly to chitosan micro-particulate systems and their role in novel drug delivery systems

Polysaccharide-Based Micro- and Nanosized Drug Delivery Systems for Potential Application in the Pediatric Dentistry

The intensive development of micro- and nanotechnologies in recent years has offered a wide horizon of new possibilities for drug delivery in dentistry. The use of polymeric drug carriers turned out to be a very successful technique for formulating micro- and nanoparticles with controlled or targeted drug release in the oral cavity. Such innovative strategies have the potential to provide an improved therapeutic approach to prevention and treatment of various oral diseases not only for adults, but also in the pediatric dental practice. Due to their biocompatibility, biotolerance and biodegradability, naturally occurring polysaccharides like chitosan, alginate, pectin, dextran, starch, etc., are among the most preferred materials for preparation of micro- and nano-devices for drug delivery, offering simple particle-forming characteristics and easily tunable properties of the formulated structures. Their low immunogenicity and low toxicity provide an advantage over most synthetic polymers for the development of pediatric formulations. This review is focused on micro- and nanoscale polysaccharide biomaterials as dental drug carriers, with an emphasis on their potential application in pediatric dentistry.