Xiaojie Cheng

Chitosan/o-carboxymethyl chitosan nanoparticles for efficient and safe oral anticancer drug delivery: In vitro and in vivo evaluation

The present study investigated the ability of a polyelectrolyte complex (CS/CMCS-NPs), composed of chitosan (CS) and o-carboxymeymethy chitosan (CMCS) as a pH responsive carrier for oral delivery of doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX). The obtained CS/CMCS-NPs were characterized for various parameters including morphology, particle size, zeta potential, entrapment efficiency and stability under the simulated GI tract conditions. The pH responsive stability of the DOX-loaded CS/CMCS nanoparticles (DOX:CS/CMCS-NPs) determined the drug release rate, which was lower in acidic pH than the neutral. Ex vivo intestinal adhesion and permeation indicated DOX:CS/CMCS-NGs were able to enhance absorption of DOX throughout the entire small intestine, especially in jejunum and ileum. Oral administration of DOX:CS/CMCS-NPs was effective to deliver DOX into blood, giving an absolute bioavailability of 42%. The tissue distribution and toxicity of DOX:CS/CMCS-NPs in rats showed low level of DOX in heart and kidney, and obviously decreased cardiac and renal toxicities. These results indicated CS/CMCS-NPs were highly efficient and safe as an oral delivery system for DOX.

Construction of hyaluronic acid noisome as functional transdermal nanocarrier for tumor therapy

To develop a functional nanosized transdermal drug delivery system for tumor therapy, amphiphilic hyaluronic acid (HA) based niosome was constructed combining transdermal and tumor targeting ability in one entity. HA esterified with monostearin, the conjugate labeled as HA-GMS self-assembled onto niosome surface and formed HA-niosome. The multilayer vesicle had small size (around 40 nm), good stability and desirable drug encapsulating efficacy, and well compatible with blood. It exhibited better endocytosis to mouse breast tumor cell (4T1) than the control chitosan nanoparticle, which was verified qualitatively and quantitatively. Skin permeation of HA-niosome was proven to be efficient using in vitro stratum corneum model and in vivo fluorescence observation. Histological section study confirmed the security and efficiency of transdermal permeation. The results evidence HA-niosome to be exciting and promising for tumor therapy through trandermal administration.

Chitosan Acetate as an Active Coating Material and Its Effects on the Storing of Prunus avium L.

In this article, chitosan acetate (CA) was prepared by the method of solid-liquid reaction. CA was a stable faint yellow powder with water solubility. CA kept the same backbone in the chemical structure as the raw material of chitosan, and it also had the similar antibacterial properties with chitosan. CA could form a coating film on the outside surface of the sweet cherries, could effectively retard the loss of the water, titratable acidity, and ascorbic acid of sweet cherries, and could induce a significant increase in the peroxidase and catalase activities in the fruit. The CA coating could also increase the ratio of the total soluble solids and titratable acidity in the fruit. The application of CA effectively maintained quality attributes and extended postharvest life of the sweet cherries. The results revealed that the CA salts had potential application in active edible coating materials in the storage of fresh fruit.

Preparation of biocompatible chitosan grafted poly(lactic acid) nanoparticles.

Chitosan grafted poly(lactic acid) (CS-g-PLA) copolymer was synthesized and characterized by FT-IR and elemental analysis. The degree of poly(lactic acid) substitution on chitosan was 1.90 ± 0.04%. The critical aggregation concentration of CS-g-PLA in distilled water was 0.17 mg/ml. Three methods of preparing CS-g-PLA nanoparticles (diafiltration method, ultrasonication method and diafiltration combined with ultrasonication method) were investigated and their effect was compared. Of the three methods, diafiltration combined with ultrasonication method produced nanoparticles with optimal property in terms of size and morphology, with size ranging from 133 to 352 nm and zeta potential from 36 to 43 mV. Also, the hemolytic activity and cytotoxicity of the CS-g-PLA based nanoparticles was tested, and results showed low hemolysis rate (<5%) and no significant cytotoxicity effect of these nanoparticles.

Transport mechanism of doxorubicin loaded chitosan based nanogels across intestinal epithelium

Chitosan/carboxymethyl chitosan nanogels (CS/CMCS-NGs) could enhance the oral bioavailability of doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX). To identify the mechanisms that support this recent observation, different transport pathways of CS/CMCS-NGs through the small intestine were studied in this work. Transcellular mechanisms were investigated in the presence of different inhibitors of protein-mediated endocytosis. A reduction of 52.32±18% of drug transport was found when clathrin-mediated endocytosis was inhibited, which demonstrated that clathrin-mediated endocytosis played an important role in the transcellular transport of DOX:CS/CMCS-NGs. The paracellular transport results showed that CMCS in NGs could produce a transient and reversible enhancement of paracellular permeability by depriving Ca(2+) from adherens junctions, whose efficacy as an absorption enhancer was about 1.7-3.3 folds higher than CS in NGs in GI tract. Finally, in vivo experiment showed that the transport capacity of DOX:CS/CMCS-NGs was significantly inhibited by extra added Ca(2+), which confirmed that the higher capacity to binding Ca(2+) of CS/CMCS-NGs was beneficial for transport of DOX.

Immobilization of Coacervate Microcapsules in Multilayer Sodium Alginate Beads for Efficient Oral Anticancer Drug Delivery

We have designed and evaluated coacervate microcapsules-immobilized multilayer sodium alginate beads (CMs-M-ALG-Beads) for oral drug delivery. The CMs-M-ALG-Beads were prepared by immobilization of doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) loaded chitosan/carboxymethyl coacervate microcapsules (DOX:CS/CMCS-CMs) in the core and layers of the multilayer sodium alginate beads. The obtained CMs-M-ALG-beads exhibited layer-by-layer structure and rough surface with many nanoscale particles. The swelling characteristic and drug release results indicated that 4-layer CMs-M-ALG-Beads possessed favorable gastric acid tolerance (the swelling rate <5%, the cumulative drug release rate <3.8%). In small intestine, the intact DOX:CS/CMCS-CMs were able to rapidly release from CMs-M-ALG-Beads with the dissolution of ALG matrix. Ex vivo intestinal mucoadhesive and permeation showed that CMs-M-ALG-Beads exhibited continued growth for P(app) values of DOX, which was 1.07-1.15 folds and 1.28-1.38 folds higher than DOX:CS:CMCS-CMs in rat jejunum and ileum, respectively, demonstrating that CMs-M-ALG-Beads were able to enhance the absorption of DOX by controlled releasing DOX:CS/CMCS-CMs and prolonging the contact time between the DOX:CS/CMCS-CMs and small intestinal mucosa.

Surface charge effect on mucoadhesion of chitosan based nanogels for local anti-colorectal cancer drug delivery

To develop more effective anticancer mucoadhesive drug delivery system for the treatment of colorectal cancer, chitosan based nanogels (NGs) were prepared by electrostatic interaction between chitosan (CS) and carboxymethyl-chitosan (CMCS). By respectively using tripolyphosphate (TPP) and CaCl2 as ionic crosslinker, two well-characterized doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) loaded NGs with opposite zeta potential (DOX:CS/CMCS/TPP NGs, -32.6±1.1 mV and DOX:CS/CMCS/Ca2+ NGs, +31.8±0.9 mV) were obtained. Compared with DOX:CS/CMCS/TPP NGs, DOX:CS/CMCS/Ca2+ NGs were taken up to a greater extent by colorectal cancer cells, resulting in greater reduction in percentage of cell viability. Owing to high binding capability to mucin and inhibited paracellular transport by colon, DOX:CS/CMCS/Ca2+ NGs exhibited improved mucoadhesion and limited permeability. This is beneficial to prolong the contact time of formulation onto intestinal mucosa and improved local drug concentration. The results provided evidence DOX:CS/CMCS/Ca2+ NGs to be exciting and promising for the treatment of colorectal cancer.

Biocompatibility, cellular uptake and biodistribution of the polymeric amphiphilic nanoparticles as oral drug carriers

Oleoyl-carboxymethyl-chitosan (OCMCS) was synthesized and were soluble at neutral pH. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) of OCMCS in deionized water was 0.021 mg/ml. OCMCS nanoparticles were successfully prepared via self-assembly with mean diameter of 215.34 nm, zeta potential of 19.26 mV and an almost spherical shape as determined by electron microscopy. The OCMCS nanoparticles showed low erythrocyte membrane-damaging effect. The MTT survival assay indicated no significant cytotoxicity to Caco-2 cells and MEFs cells. The uptake of FITC labeled OCMCS nanoparticles by Caco-2 cells was confirmed via confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM). In vivo toxicity assays were performed via histopathological evaluation, and no specific anatomical pathological changes or tissue damage was observed in the tissues of carps. The extent of tissue distribution and retention following oral administration of FITC-OCMCS nanoparticles was analyzed for 3 days. After 3 days, the nanoparticles remained detectable in the muscle, heart, kidney, liver, intestine, and spleen. The results showed that 34.32% of the particles were localized in the liver, 18.79% in the kidney, and 17.36% in the heart. The lowest percentage was observed in the muscle. These results implied that OCMCS nanoparticles had great potential to be applied as safe carriers for the oral administration of protein drugs.

Positive/negative surface charge of chitosan based nanogels and its potential influence on oral insulin delivery.

To develop insulin delivery system for the treatment of diabetes, two insulin-loaded nanogels with opposite zeta potential (-15.94 ± 0.449 mV for insulin:CMCS/CS-NGs(-) and +17.15 ± 0.492 mV for insulin:CMCS/CS-NGs(+)) were obtained. Ex vivo results showed that the nanogels with opposite surface charge exhibited different adhesion and permeation in specific intestinal segments. There was no significant differences in adhesion and permeation in rat duodenum, but in rat jejunum, insulin:CMCS/CS-NGs(-) exhibited enhanced adhesion and permeation, which were about 3 folds (adhesion) and 1.7 folds (permeation) higher than insulin:CMCS/CS-NGs(+). These results demonstrated that the surface charge property of nanogels determined the absorption sites of CMCS/CS-NGs in small intestine. In vivo study, the blood glucose level in insulin:CMCS/CS-NGs(-) group had 3 mmol/L lower than insulin:CMCS/CS-NGs(+) group during 1h to 11h after the oral administration, which demonstrated that negative insulin:CMCS/CS-NGs had a better management of blood glucose than positive ones.

Preparation, characterization, and antibacterial activity of oleic acid-grafted chitosan oligosaccharide nanoparticles

An oleic acid-grafted chitosan oligosaccharide (CSO-OA) with different degrees of amino substitution (DSs) was synthesized by the 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC)-mediated coupling reaction. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) suggested the formation of an amide linkage between amino groups of chitosan oligosaccharide and carboxyl groups of oleic acid. The critical aggregation concentrations (CACs) of CSO-OA with 6%, 11%, and 21% DSs were 0.056, 0.042, and 0.028 mg·mL−1, respectively. Nanoparticles prepared with the sonication method were characterized by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Zetasizer, and the antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus was investigated. The results showed that the CSO-OA nanoparticles were in the range of 60–200 nm with satisfactory structural integrity. The particle size slightly decreased with the increase of DS of CSO-OA. The antibacterial trial showed that the nanoparticles had good antibacterial activity against E. coli and S. aureus.