Cross-linked chitosan in nano and bead scales as drug carriers for betamethasone and tetracycline.

ABSTRACT

Chitosan nanoparticles and chitosan beads were synthesized through the ionic gelation procedure in which sodium citrate was used as the cross-linking agent. The prepared nanoparticles were characterized by using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), zeta potential, and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The synthesized nanoparticles and beads were examined as drug carriers for controlled release of two important drugs including betamethasone and tetracycline. For this purpose, various properties such as swelling behavior, loading capacity, encapsulation efficiency, and release degree of the particles were obtained. The effect of pH on the aforementioned parameters was also studied. The results indicated that the amount of drug released from chitosan nanoparticles is lower than that released from chitosan beads. It was also found that the release degree for both of the drugs at the pH of 4.8 is much larger than that at the pH of 7.4.