Natural polymers, particularly polysaccharide, have been used as drug delivery systems for a variety of therapeutic agents such as peptides, proteins, vaccines, DNA, and drugs for parenteral and non-parenteral administration. Chitosan, the second most abundant naturally occurring polysaccharide after cellulose, is a biocompatible and biodegradable mucoadhesive polymer that is extensively used in the preparation of nanoparticles (NPs). Chitosan NPs loaded with drugs were found to be stable, permeable and bioactive. In this review, the importance of chitosan and its derivatives in drug delivery is illustrated, different methods of preparation of chitosan and chitosan derivatives NPs and their physio- chemical properties are addressed. Moreover, the desirable characteristics of successful NPs based drug delivery systems, as well as the pharmaceutical applications of these NPs are also clearly explored.
Keywords: Chitosan; desolvation; drug delivery; emulsification; ionic gelation; nanoparticles.
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