The Preparation Of N, N-Dilauryl Chitosan Self-assembled Nanovesicles For Drug Delivery

Chitosan and its derivatives are characterized by their biocompatibility, biodegradability, and drug-absorption enhancement. Their unique chemical and biological properties make it an attractive biomaterial for a variety of pharmaceutical applications. Chitosan with two long side chains of N-alkyl group is an important amphiphilic material, which has potential application in tissue engineering and drug delivery system. In this paper the amphiphilic N,N-dilauryl chitosan has been prepared by the phase transfer catalysis. The effect of molecular weight of chitosan and reaction conditions such as reaction temperature, reaction time and phasetransfer catalyst/aldehyde ratio on the substitution degree of alkyl group has been studied. And the -A isotherms of the products were measured in order to find some fundamental data for making self-assembled vesicles out of this kind of material.Two kinds of self-assembled nanovesicles have first been prepared by using N, N-dilauryl chitosan with and without additives. The effect of molecular weight of chitosan, additives and preparation conditions such as pH value of buffer on making self-assembled vesicles has been studied. Vitamine B12 as model drug and insulin as applicable drug were used in our study. The experiments have been done to study the drug-encapsulation efficiency, the drug-loaded content of vesicle material, and drug release behavior of various vesicles.The experimental results show that N, N-dilauryl chitosan self-assembled vesicles can be applied for encapsulation of insulin for its bigger drug-encapsulation efficiency and longer sustaining time of drug. This property is very important for its practical application.