Abstract
Purpose: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of chitosan molecular weight onsize, size distribution, release rate, mucoadhesive properties and electrostatic bonding ofalginate/chitosan microparticles containing prednisoloneMethods: Three mucoadhesive alginate/chitosan microparticle formulations, f1, f2 and f3, wereprepared using low, medium and high chitosan molecular weight (MW) chitosan, respectively, by directlyspraying alginate solution into a solution of chitosan and calcium chloride at optimum conditions.Prednisolone was incorporated in the alginate solution prior to spraying. The microparticles were thenevaluated for prednisolone content, size, release rate, and mucoadhesive properties using appropriatemethods. The formation of electrostatic and hydrogen bonds between chitosan and alginate wasassessed by differential scanning calorimetetry (DSC) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR).Results: The results indicate that high MW chitosan microparticles were significantly (p<0.05) smallerand more uniform in size, with better mucoadhesive properties and lower release rate than the otherformulations. FTIR and DSC studies indicate that stronger hydrogen and electrostatic bonding in theformulation containing high MW chitosan than inthe other formulationsConclusion: The physicochemical properties of chitosan-alginate microparticles are dependent on themolecular weight of chitosan
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 53-61 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research |
| Publication status | Published - 2009 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Chitosan, Microparticle, Alginate, Molecular weight, DSC, FITR.