Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
6
Chitosan and Low Molecular Weight
Chitosan: Biological and Biomedical
Applications
Nazma N. Inamdar
1
and Vishnukant Mourya
2,
*
1
Government College of Pharmacy, Osmanpura, Aurangabad, India
2
Government College of Pharmacy, Kathora Naka, Amravati, India
Abstract
h e biorenewable polysaccharides chitin and chitosan are currently being
explored intensively for their applications, especially in pharmaceutical, bio-
medical, and biotechnological i eld. h ese are aminoglucopyrans composed of
N-acetylglucosamine and glucosamine residues. h e insolubility of chitin in most
of the commonly used solvents has led to use of chitosan. h e insolubility of chito-
san, except in the aqueous acidic media, has prompted its derivitaztion and depo-
lymerization to low molecular weight chitosans and chitooligosachharide. h ese
polymers have emerged as a new class of physiological materials of highly sophisti-
cated functions due to their versatile biological activity, excellent biocompatibility
and complete biodegradability in combination with low toxicity. Noteworthy num-
ber of reports related to variety of other biological activities is available. h e most
important of the array of biological activities are the antimicrobial, hemostatic and
wound healing actions which have already been commercialised to some extent.
h e immunological and antioxidant activities of chitosan are particularly interest-
ing and contribute to potentially very important applications of this polymer in the
treatment of various tumoral al ictions and in the treatment of several pathologies
of viral origin. h e immunoadjuvant properties of chitosan are keenly observed for
their possible use in vaccination. Since the chitosan can be degraded in living cell
media, the question remains whether the biological activities are due to the mono-
mer and oligomer or directly due to the polymer. h ere is a need to understand
the mechanisms underlying these activities and to exploit the actions by chemical
