Preparation of mucoadhesive methacrylated chitosan nanoparticles for delivery of ciprofloxacin.

Mucoadhesive polymers and their nanoparticles have attracted a lot of attention in pharmaceutical applications, especially transmucosal drug delivery (TDD). Mucoadhesive polysaccharide-based nanoparticles, particularly chitosan, and its derivatives, are widely used for TDD owing to their outstanding features such as biocompatibility, mucoadhesive, and absorption-enhancing properties. Herein, this study aimed to design potential mucoadhesive nanoparticles for the delivery of ciprofloxacin based on methacrylated chitosan (MeCHI) using the ionic gelation method in the presence of sodium tripolyphosphate (TPP) and compared them with the unmodified chitosan nanoparticles.

Mucus-penetrating nanoparticles based on chitosan grafted with various non-ionic polymers: Synthesis, structural characterisation and diffusion studies.

Transmucosal administration offers numerous advantages for drug delivery as it usually helps to avoid first pass metabolism, provides rapid onset of action, and is a non-invasive route. Mucosal surfaces are covered by a viscoelastic mucus gel layer which acts as a protective barrier preventing the entrance of harmful substances into the human tissues. This function of mucus also inhibits the diffusion of drugs and nano-formulations and can result in a significant reduction of their efficacy.

Silica Nanoparticles in Transmucosal Drug Delivery.

Transmucosal drug delivery includes the administration of drugs via various mucous membranes, such as gastrointestinal, nasal, ocular, and vaginal mucosa. The use of nanoparticles in transmucosal drug delivery has several advantages, including the protection of drugs against the harsh environment of the mucosal lumens and surfaces, increased drug residence time, and enhanced drug absorption. Due to their relatively simple synthetic methods for preparation, safety profile, and possibilities of surface functionalisation, silica nanoparticles are highly promising for transmucosal drug delivery.

Chitosan and Its Derivatives for Application in Mucoadhesive Drug Delivery Systems.

Mucoadhesive drug delivery systems are desirable as they can increase the residence time of drugs at the site of absorption/action, provide sustained drug release and minimize the degradation of drugs in various body sites. Chitosan is a cationic polysaccharide that exhibits mucoadhesive properties and it has been widely used in the design of mucoadhesive dosage forms. However, its limited mucoadhesive strength and limited water-solubility at neutral and basic pHs are considered as two major drawbacks of its use.

Synthesis of thiolated, PEGylated and POZylated silica nanoparticles and evaluation of their retention on rat intestinal mucosa in vitro.

In this study, we synthesised thiolated silica nanoparticles using 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane and functionalised them with either 5 kDa methoxy polyethylene glycol maleimide (PEG) or 5 kDa alkyne-terminated poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) (POZ). The main objectives of this study are to investigate the effects of pH on the size and ξ-potential of these nanoparticles and evaluate their mucoadhesive properties ex vivo using rat intestinal mucosa. The sizes of thiolated, PEGylated and POZylated silica nanoparticles were 53 ± 1, 68 ± 1 and 59 ± 1 nm, respectively.