title: Modified chitosans for oral drug delivery.
abstract: The cationic polysaccharide chitosan has been extensively studied for oral drug delivery. In recent years, chemically modified chitosans developed in order to improve the properties of chitosan for oral drug delivery have gained increasing attention. Representatives of these novel polymers are trimethyl-chitosans, thiolated chitosans, carboxymethyl chitosan and derivatives, hydrophobic chitosans, chitosan succinate and phthalate, PEGylated chitosans and chitosan-enzyme inhibitor conjugates. Besides their use for oral delivery of therapeutic peptides and proteins, they have recently been evaluated regarding their potential for the delivery of other substance classes, including genes and efflux pump substrates. Within the current review, various modified chitosan derivatives, their properties and synthesis are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Drug Delivery Technology and Science, Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Gifu Pharmaceutical University, 5-6-1 Mitahora-Higashi, Gifu 502-8585, Japan.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Werle
authors.forename: Hirofumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bernkop-Schnürch
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000818:Animals; D002626:Chemistry, Pharmaceutical; D048271:Chitosan / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000494:pharmacology; D005079:Excipients; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D005079:Excipients; D048271:Chitosan