The study seeks to evaluate nanoparticles based on chitosan for enhanced delivery of ampicillin in plasmid-mediated drug resistance. Serial dilutions of a mixed population of E. coli was plated on nutrient agar and streaked on Replica-plate 25 random colonies using MacConkey agar with or without ampicillin (100 µg/ml) daily for 96 h. Nanoparticles were prepared by cross-linking chitosan with sodium tripolyphosphate with ampicillin trihydrate adsorbed. Three different batches were prepared for optimization. The nanoparticles were optimized based on encapsulation efficiency, in vitro drug release, pH stability and microbiological assay using two laboratory strains of E. coli. Increased resistance to ampicillin due to possible plasmid transfer was established in vitro after 96 h. The encapsulation efficiency of the three batches was between 21-57 %. The drug release showed a burst effect and slow extended release over 8 h and reached a peak of about 19 % release at the 6 and 7 h in Batch A, B and C. The pH of the particles was stable over a period of 6 d. The nanoparticles containing only 0.075 mg of ampicillin dropped in an agar well plate inoculated with 1 ml of E. coli J62 lac pro trp hispFlac::Tn3 (AmpR) gave an IZD of ≥ 25 mm. Chitosan nanoparticles holds good potentials in potentiating the antibacterial effect of ampicillin against possible plasmid-mediated drug resistance