Chitosan is a natural polysaccharide abundant in nature and has exhibited excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability, mechanical strength, low-toxic.
It is "obtained by alkaline N-deacetylation of chitin, which is the main component of the exoskeleton of crustaceans, such as shrimps, crabs and lobsters" (1).
It is also a chelating agent and has interesting film-forming properties and is considered to be the cheapest and best performing option for fluoride elimination.
Many studies have focused on its function as a vector, in regenerative medicine, of bioactive molecules (2), of bone tissue regenerator (3), of its potential for tissue engineering on articular cartilage (4).
In-vivo experiments demonstrated that unmodified Chitosan nanoparticles were able to reverse fibrosis with a survival rate of 100% at the end of the study, indicating the ability of Chitosan nanoparticles to deliver functional collagenase to the fibrotic liver and making the use of collagen binding peptides unnecessary (5).
The problem of food preservation could be solved in a sustainable way through chitosan films and coatings. These films and coatings used as essential oil carriers have been shown to reduce lipid peroxidation in both fish and meat products (7).
This study has shown that chitosan and cationically modified chitosan (HTCC) are biomaterials that can be used to improve immune efficacy and improve immune response due to their promising mucoadhesive properties. (8).
With regard to the 'weight loss' effect attributed to chitosan, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Panel, after analysing and evaluating a number of studies, concluded that there is no cause and effect relationship between chitosan consumption and body weight reduction while a cause and effect relationship between chitosan consumption and the maintenance of normal LDL cholesterol levels in the blood was established. The Panel considers that an adult should consume 3 g of chitosan daily to achieve the claimed effect (9),
Warnings
Chitosan may interfere with the action of anticoagulants such as warfarin (10).
Chitosan, insights and studies
Molecular Formula: C56H103N9O39
Molecular Weight: 1526.5 g/mol
Synonyms:
- Chitosan
- Poliglusam
- Chitopearl BC 3000
- Deacetylchitin
- Celox
- Chicol
- Sea Cure F
- Flonac C
- Poly (D-glucosamine)
- Flonac N
- beta-1,4-Poly-delta-glucosamine
- Sea Cure Plus
- SCHEMBL21304990
- Kytex H
- Kytex M
- Kimitsu Chitosan F
- methyl N-[(2S,3R,4R,5S,6R)-5-[(2S,3R,4R,5S,6R)-3-azanyl-5-[(2S,3R,4R,5S,6R)-3-azanyl-5-[(2S,3R,4R,5S,6R)-3-azanyl-5-[(2S,3R,4R,5S,6R)-3-azanyl-5-[(2S,3R,4R,5S,6R)-3-azanyl-5-[(2S,3R,4R,5S,6R)-3-azanyl-6-(hydroxymethyl)-4,5-bis(oxidanyl)oxan-2-yl]oxy-6-(hy
- N-[(2S,3R,4R,5S,6R)-5-[[(2S,3R,4R,5S,6R)-3-amino-5-[[(2S,3R,4R,5S,6R)-3-amino-5-[[(2S,3R,4R,5S,6R)-3-amino-5-[[(2S,3R,4R,5S,6R)-3-amino-5-[[(2S,3R,4R,5S,6R)-3-amino-5-[[(2S,3R,4R,5S,6R)-3-amino-4,5-dihydroxy-6-(hydroxymethyl)-2-oxanyl]oxy]-4-hydroxy-6-(hy
References_____________________________________________________
(1) Aquatic-Derived Biomaterials for a Sustainable Future: A European Opportunity. Roberto Nisticò Resources 2017, 6(4), 65; https://doi.org/10.3390/resources6040065
(2) Chitosan: An Update on Potential Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Applications.
Cheung RC, Ng TB, Wong JH, Chan WY.
Mar Drugs. 2015 Aug 14;13(8):5156-86. doi: 10.3390/md13085156.
(3) Injectable nanoparticles/hydrogels composite as sustained release system with stromal cell-derived factor-1α for calvarial bone regeneration.
Mi L, Liu H, Gao Y, Miao H, Ruan J.
Int J Biol Macromol. 2017 Aug;101:341-347. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2017.03.098.
(4) Application of chitosan-based polysaccharide biomaterials in cartilage tissue engineering: a review.
Suh JK, Matthew HW.
Biomaterials. 2000 Dec;21(24):2589-98.
(5) Collagenase loaded chitosan nanoparticles for digestion of the collagenous scar in liver fibrosis: the effect of chitosan intrinsic collagen binding on the success of targeting.
El-Safy S, Tammam SN, Abdel-Halim M, Ali ME, Youshia J, Shetab Boushehri MA, Lamprecht A, Mansour S.
Eur J Pharm Biopharm. 2020 Jan 13. pii: S0939-6411(20)30007-2. doi: 10.1016/j.ejpb.2020.01.003.
(6) Antimicrobial properties of chitosan and mode of action: a state of the art review.
Kong M, Chen XG, Xing K, Park HJ.
Int J Food Microbiol. 2010 Nov 15;144(1):51-63. doi: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2010.09.012.
(7) Chitosan films and coatings containing essential oils: The antioxidant and antimicrobial activity, and application in food systems.
Yuan G, Chen X, Li D.
Food Res Int. 2016 Nov;89(Pt 1):117-128. doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2016.10.004.
(8) Zhao J, Li J, Jiang Z, et al. Chitosan, N,N,N-trimethyl chitosan (TMC) and 2-hydroxypropyltrimethyl ammonium chloride chitosan (HTCC): The potential immune adjuvants and nano carriers [published online ahead of print, 2020 Mar 14]. Int J Biol Macromol. 2020;S0141-8130(19)36837-0. doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2020.03.065
(9) Scientific Opinion on the substantiation of health claims related to chitosan and reduction in body weight (ID 679, 1499), maintenance of normal blood LDL-cholesterol concentrations (ID 4663), reduction of intestinal transit time (ID 4664) and reduction of inflammation (ID 1985) pursuant to Article 13(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006
(10) Huang SS, Sung SH, Chiang CE. Chitosan potentiation of warfarin effect. Ann Pharmacother. 2007;41(11):1912–1914. doi:10.1345/aph.1K173
Chitosan 
