title: Chitosan: a propitious biopolymer for drug delivery.
abstract: Scientists have always been interested in the use of natural polymers for drug delivery. Chitosan, being a natural cationic polysaccharide has received a great deal of attention in the past few years. It is obtained by deacetylation of chitin and is regarded as the second most ubiquitous polymer subsequent to cellulose on earth. Unlike other natural polymers, the cationic charge possessed by chitosan is accountable for imparting interesting physical and chemical properties. Chitosan has been widely exploited for its mucoadhesive character, permeation enhancing properties and controlled release of drugs. Moreover it's non-toxic, biocompatible and biodegradable properties make it a good candidate for novel drug delivery system. This review provides an insight on various chitosan based formulations for drug delivery. Some of the current applications of chitosan in areas like ophthalmic, nasal, buccal, sublingual, gastro-retentive, pulmonary, transdermal, colon-specific and vaginal drug delivery have been discussed. In addition, active targeting of drugs to tumor cells using chitosan has been described. Lastly a brief section covering the safety aspects of chitosan has also been reviewed.
authors.affiliation: University of Mumbai, Bharati Vidyapeeth's College of Pharmacy, Department of Quality Assurance, CBD Belapur, Sector-8, Navi-Mumbai-400614, India. dibyangana02@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Dibyangana S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Duttagupta
authors.forename: Varsha M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Jadhav
authors.forename: Vilasrao J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Kadam
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002626:Chemistry, Pharmaceutical; D048271:Chitosan / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000737:chemistry*; D004304:Dosage Forms; D004333:Drug Administration Routes; D004337:Drug Carriers; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D061214:Patient Safety; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013678:Technology, Pharmaceutical / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D004304:Dosage Forms; D004337:Drug Carriers; D048271:Chitosan