Studies on the Properties of Chitosan-Starch Beads and their Application as Drug Release Materials

Abstract

In this work, chitosan and blends of chitosan-starch beads were prepared and crosslinked with glutaraldehyde (pentane-1,5-dial). The blends were prepared with 1:1, 2:1 and 3:1 chitosan-starch ratios. Metformin hydrochloride (N,N-dimethylimidodicarbonimidic diamide hydrochloride), a type 2 diabetis drug, was incorporated into them. The materials were subjected to swellability tests and the effects of time and pH were established. Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectrophotometeric (FTIR) analysis was also carried out on the materials and their potentials as drug release systems studied. The results obtained from the FTIR studies showed that the uncrosslinked chitosan-starch bead showed O-H stretching band at 3424cm -1 and N-H band at 1640cm -1 . The chitosan-starch bead also showed a band at 597cm -1 corresponding to C-Cl band, due to the presence of metformin hydrochloride in the bead and its O-H stretching band was very strong and broad due to the numerous -OH groups in starch and chitosan. The results of swelling studies showed that the percent swellability of the polymer matrices increased in both the crosslinked and uncrosslinked beads as the amount of starch in them increased. The uncrosslinked chitosan beads had maximum swelling of 83.74%, while its crosslinked analogue had 47.93% in acidic medium (pH 2.06) within the range of test period of 60 minutes. The amount of drug released by the 1: 1, 2:1 and 3:1 crosslinked chitosan-starch beads (13.90, 13.60, and 12.30mg/L, respectively) was much lower than that of their uncrosslinked analogues (22.50, 20.90, and 16.60mg/L, respectively) after 120 minutes, suggesting that the release of drug is delayed by crosslinking. This suggests that the crosslinked chitosan-starch beads can be used for regulating release of drugs in solid dosages such as beads or tablets.

The Chemistry of Chitin and Chitosan Justifying their Nanomedical Utilities

“…The unique properties of chitosan including bioavailability, biodegradability, biocompactility, bioactivity, nontoxicity as well as good adhesion for sorption are the major reasons for its multiple applications [27]. Other reasons for the increasing interest of chitosan is its wide range of physical forms and various possible chemical modifications obtained using technical processes, in order to increase its solubility and widen its applications [14,28]. The chemical structure of chitosan is shown in Figure 3.…”

“…FTIR analysis of chitosan shows broad absorption band in the range of 3000 to 3500 cm -1 which is attributed to O-H stretching vibrations and the 3263 cm -1 to vibration of N-H [28,30]. The stretching vibrations of methylene C-H occur at 2854 cm -1 and the absorption peak at 1558 cm -1 corresponds to the N-H bending vibrations.…”

“…Blending of chitosan with other polymers such as starch and crosslinking them are both convenient and effective methods of improving the physical and mechanical properties of chitosan for practical applications. Chitosan has been successfully blended with starch for the effective release of metformin hydrochloride [28]. O, and in all cases, quantitative determination of the metal ions contained in the chitosan was conducted by using atomic absorption spectroscopy.…”

Chitosan Hydrogels and their Glutaraldehyde-Crosslinked Counterparts as Potential Drug Release and Tissue Engineering Systems - Synthesis, Characterization, Swelling Kinetics and Mechanism

“…These modifications can be tailored for a specific application [6]. For example, crosslinking chitosan with crosslinking agents such as glutaraldehyde or sodium tripolyphosphate, has proved to be a convenient and effective method of improving the physical and chemical properties of chitosan for practical applications [7].…”

“…Since chitosan does not cause any biological hazard and is inexpensive, it is suitable for use in the preparation of solid dosage forms of commercial drugs [7] and as materials for tissue engineering [5].…”