Chitosan/carboxymethyl chitosan nanogels (CS/CMCS-NGs) could enhance the oral bioavailability of doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX). To identify the mechanisms that support this recent observation, different transport pathways of CS/CMCS-NGs through the small intestine were studied in this work. Transcellular mechanisms were investigated in the presence of different inhibitors of protein-mediated endocytosis. A reduction of 52.32±18% of drug transport was found when clathrin-mediated endocytosis was inhibited, which demonstrated that clathrin-mediated endocytosis played an important role in the transcellular transport of DOX:CS/CMCS-NGs. The paracellular transport results showed that CMCS in NGs could produce a transient and reversible enhancement of paracellular permeability by depriving Ca(2+) from adherens junctions, whose efficacy as an absorption enhancer was about 1.7-3.3 folds higher than CS in NGs in GI tract. Finally, in vivo experiment showed that the transport capacity of DOX:CS/CMCS-NGs was significantly inhibited by extra added Ca(2+), which confirmed that the higher capacity to binding Ca(2+) of CS/CMCS-NGs was beneficial for transport of DOX.
Keywords: Carboxymethyl chitosan; Doxorubicin hydrochloride; Drug permeability; Nanogels; Oral delivery; Transport pathway.
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