Development of Alginate/Chitosan Microparticles for Dust
Mite Allergen
Tittaya Suksamran, Praneet
Opanasopit*, Theerasak Rojanarata and
Tanasait Ngawhirunpat
Faculty of Pharmacy, Silpakorn University, Nakhon Pathom
73000, Thailand
For correspondence:
E-mail:
praneet@su.ac.th
Tel: +66-34-255800; Fax: +66-34-255801
Received: 17 November
2010 Revised
accepted: 11 April 2011
Tropical
Journal of Pharmaceutical Research, June 2011;
10(3):
317-324
doi:
10.4314/tjpr.v10i3.8
Abstract
Purpose:
To develop chitosan/alginate microparticles for the
mucosal delivery of allergen from dust mite
(Dermatophagoides
pteronyssinus).
Methods:
Chitosan/alginate microparticles were prepared by
ionotropic gelation. The effects of polymer content,
crosslinking agent, and preparation method on the
physicochemical characteristics of the microparticles as
well as their in vitro cytotoxicity were investigated.
Results:
The microparticles were small (1 - 17 µm) and spherical
in shape. The highest allergen content (0.30
±
0.07 mg/g) was obtained with 2.5 % initial allergen
loading in chitosan- triphosphate (CS-TPP)
microparticles. Sustained allergen release (approx. 50
% over 24 h) was observed from alginate-coated chitosan
microparticles. Allergen incorporation method and
initial drug-loading could be varied to obtain optimum
particle size with high allergen-loading and sustained
release. The cytotoxicity of various microparticle
formulations did not differ significantly (p > 0.05 ),
as cell viability values were close to 100 %.
Conclusion:
This study indicates that alginate and alginate-coated
chitosan microparticles are safe and can be further
developed for mucosal allergen delivery.
Keywords:
Alginate, Chitosan, Microparticle, Allergen delivery,
Dust mite,
Dermatophagoides
pteronyssinus
