Authors: Panos, Ines; Acosta, Niuris; Heras, Angeles

Source: Current Drug Discovery Technologies, Volume 5, Number 4, December 2008 , pp. 333-341(9)

Publisher: Bentham Science Publishers

Abstract:

The development of new delivery systems for the controlled release of drugs is one of the most interesting fields of research in pharmaceutical sciences. Microparticles can be used for the controlled release of drugs, vaccines, antibiotics, and hormones. To prevent the loss of encapsulated materials, the microcapsules should be coated with another polymer that forms a membrane on the surface. In addition there are several fundamental properties of polymers that are useful in solving drug delivery problems, as they can be combined with the drug covalently or ionically to overcome problems like solubility, stability or permeability.

Chitosan is a copolymer of N-acetylglucosamine and glucosamine derived from chitin, which is extracted from crustaceans' shells. This polymer has become the focus of major interest in recent years because it has applications in several fields such as biomedicine, agriculture, the textile industry and the paper industry.

There are many processes that can be used to encapsulate drugs within chitosan matrixes such as ionotropic gelation, spray drying, emulsification- solvent evaporation and coacervation. Combinations of these processes are also used in order to obtain microparticles with specific properties and performances. This review provides an overview of these four techniques applied directly to chitosan microparticulate systems.

Keywords: Chitosan; controlled release systems; ionotropic gelation; spray drying; emulsification- solvent evaporation; coacervation

Document Type: Research article

Publication date: 2008-12-01

More about this publication?

• Due to the plethora of new approaches being used in modern drug discovery by the pharmaceutical industry, Current Drug Discovery Technologies has been established to provide comprehensive overviews of all the major modern techniques and technologies used in drug design and discovery. The journal is the forum for publishing both original research papers and reviews describing novel approaches and cutting edge technologies used in all stages of drug discovery. The journal addresses the multidimensional challenges of drug discovery science including integration issues of the drug discovery process.
  
  Current Drug Discovery Technologies is an essential journal for all scientists and research managers involved in drug discovery who wish to keep abreast of all the modern techniques and technologies used in drug discovery.

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