An influence of molecular weight, deacetylation degree of chitosan xerogels on their antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity. Comparison of chitosan materials obtained using lactic acid and CO2 saturation

Szymon Mania; Adrianna Banach-Kopeć; Karol Staszczyk; Jolanta Kulesza; Ewa Augustin; Robert Tylingo

doi:10.1016/j.carres.2023.108973

An influence of molecular weight, deacetylation degree of chitosan xerogels on their antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity. Comparison of chitosan materials obtained using lactic acid and CO₂ saturation

Carbohydr Res. 2023 Dec:534:108973. doi: 10.1016/j.carres.2023.108973. Epub 2023 Oct 14.

Authors

Szymon Mania¹, Adrianna Banach-Kopeć², Karol Staszczyk³, Jolanta Kulesza⁴, Ewa Augustin⁵, Robert Tylingo⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, Technology and Biotechnology of Food, Faculty of Chemistry, Gdansk University of Technology, 11/12 G. Narutowicza Street, 80-233, Gdansk, Poland. Electronic address: szymon.mania@pg.edu.pl.
² Department of Chemistry, Technology and Biotechnology of Food, Faculty of Chemistry, Gdansk University of Technology, 11/12 G. Narutowicza Street, 80-233, Gdansk, Poland. Electronic address: adrianna.banach@pg.edu.pl.
³ Department of Chemistry, Technology and Biotechnology of Food, Faculty of Chemistry, Gdansk University of Technology, 11/12 G. Narutowicza Street, 80-233, Gdansk, Poland. Electronic address: karol.staszczyk@pg.edu.pl.
⁴ Department of Pharmaceutical Technology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Gdansk University of Technology, 11/12 G. Narutowicza Street, 80-233, Gdansk, Poland. Electronic address: jolanta.kulesza@pg.edu.pl.
⁵ Department of Pharmaceutical Technology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Gdansk University of Technology, 11/12 G. Narutowicza Street, 80-233, Gdansk, Poland. Electronic address: ewa.augustin@pg.edu.pl.
⁶ Department of Chemistry, Technology and Biotechnology of Food, Faculty of Chemistry, Gdansk University of Technology, 11/12 G. Narutowicza Street, 80-233, Gdansk, Poland. Electronic address: robertt@pg.edu.pl.

PMID: 37866003
DOI: 10.1016/j.carres.2023.108973

Abstract

This paper presents a comparison of the antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity against L929 cells of chitosan xerogels prepared by dissolving the polymer in a solution of lactic acid (LA) or carbonic acid (CO₂) and then freeze-drying. There was no simple relationship between the antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity of the samples obtained using both techniques (LA and CO₂). Chitosan materials obtained by the LA method in a 1:1 dilution were characterized by the highest cytotoxicity against L929 cells (∼20%). For the same diluted samples prepared using the CO₂ saturation method, the viability of L929 cells was approximately 2.5 times greater. Some of the tested chitosan materials obtained by the innovative method were characterized by significantly lower antimicrobial activity, for example, reduction of E. coli bacteria for MMW-LA and MMW-CO₂ samples by 6.00 and 0.75 logarithmic order, respectively. This clearly indicates that in many applications, the presence of the acid necessary to dissolve chitosan is responsible for the antimicrobial activity of the polymer solution and its products.

Keywords: Antimicrobial properties; Chitosan; Cytotoxicity; Deacetylation degree; Molecular weight.

MeSH terms

Anti-Infective Agents* / pharmacology
Carbon Dioxide
Chitosan* / pharmacology
Escherichia coli
Lactic Acid / pharmacology
Molecular Weight

Substances

Chitosan
Carbon Dioxide
Lactic Acid
Anti-Infective Agents