Chitosan

is a sugar that is obtained from the hard outer skeleton of shellfish, including crab, lobster, and shrimp. It is used for medicine. Chitosan is used for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, wound healing, and other conditions,

Functional Category

Coating agent; disintegrant; film-forming agent; mucoadhesive;

tablet binder; viscosity increasing agent.

Applications in Pharmaceutical Formulation or

Technology

Chitosan is used in cosmetics and is under investigation for use in a number of pharmaceutical formulations. The suitability and performance of chitosan as a component of pharmaceutical formulations for drug delivery applications has been investigated in numerous studies. These include controlled drug deliveryapplications, use as a component of mucoadhesive dosage forms, rapid release dosage forms, improved peptide delivery, colonic drug delivery systems, and use for gene

delivery. Chitosan has been processed into several pharmaceutical forms including gels, films, beads, microspheres, tablets, and coatings for liposomes. Furthermore, chitosan may be processed into drug delivery systemsusing several techniques including spray-drying, coacervation, direct compression, and conventional granulation processes.

Description

Chitosan occurs as odorless, white or creamy-white powder or flakes. Fiber formation is quite comm