The low transfection efficiency of chitosan is one of its drawbacks as a gene delivery carrier. Low molecular weight chitosan may help to form small-sized polymer-DNA or small interfering RNA (siRNA) complexes. Folate conjugation may improve gene transfection efficiency because of the promoted uptake of folate receptor-bearing cells. In the present study, chitosan was conjugated with folate and...

This study aimed to develop an intravesical delivery system of gemcitabine HCl for superficial bladder cancer in order to provide a controlled release profile, to prolong the residence time, and to avoid drug elimination via urination. For this aim, bioadhesive nanoparticles were prepared with thiolated chitosan (chitosan-thioglycolic acid conjugate) and were dispersed in bioadhesive chitosan g...

Cyclooxygenase type 2 (COX-2) plays a predominant role in the progression of kidney injury in obstructive nephropathy. The aim of this study was to test the efficacy of chitosan/small interfering RNA (siRNA) nanoparticles to knockdown COX-2 specifically in macrophages to prevent kidney injury induced by unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO). Using optical imaging techniques and confocal microsc...

Infections caused by pathogens colonization at wound sites in the process of bone healing are considered as one of the major reasons for the failure of guided bone regeneration (GBR). The objective of this study was to prepare a novel asymmetric collagen/chitosan GBR membrane containing minocycline-loaded chitosan nanoparticles. The morphologies of the membranes and nanoparticles were observed ...

The chitosan nanoparticles used widely as a drug delivery systems recently. In the present study the Echis carinataus snake venom loaded chitosan nanoparticles were prepared based on ionic gelation of tripolyphosphate and chitosan. The nanoparticles physicochemical characteristics, stability and biological activity of encapsulated venom were studied. The particles were spherical in shape and th...

Silver and copper nanoparticles were produced by chemical reduction of their respective nitrates by ascorbic acid in the presence of chitosan using microwave heating. Particle size was shown to increase by increasing the concentration of nitrate and reducing the chitosan concentration. Surface zeta potentials were positive for all nanoparticles produced and these varied from 27.8 to 33.8 mV. An...

biodegradable nanoparticulate carriers, have important potential applications for administration of therapeutic molecules. chitosan based nanoparticles have attracted a lot of attention upon their biological properties such as biodegradability, biocom-patibility and bioadhesivity. the aim of the present investigation was to describe the synthesis and characterization of novel biodegradable nano...

The production and use of iron oxide nanoparticles are growing exponentially due to its wide applications in different fields of science and technology. The objective of this study is to synthesize iron oxide nanoparticles, and modification of its surface to make it less toxic. The iron oxide nanoparticles were synthesized by chemical co-precipitation method, and surface modification was done u...

The potential of using two natural polymers (chitosan and shellac) for the formation of nanoparticles by the process of ionic cross-linking to encapsulate bovine serum albumin, a model protein was investigated. Depending on the concentrations of chitosan, shellac and bovine serum albumin, three physical states - nanoparticle, aggregation, and solution could be observed as a result of the electr...

We recently described a delivery system that is composed of a chitosan core to which the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was adsorbed and subsequently coated with sodium alginate. In this present work, alginate coated chitosan nanoparticles were evaluated as a subcutaneous adjuvant for HBsAg. HBsAg loaded, alginate coated or uncoated chitosan nanoparticles, associated or not with CpGODN wer...