Design, Synthesis, and Preparation of Ultrasound-Responsive Curcumin-Loaded Chitosan Nanocarriers

In this study, chitosan was alkylated by o-nitrobenzyl to obtain liver-targeting and ultrasound-responsive functional materials. The Curcumin-loaded Chitosan nanoparticles were prepared by ion-crosslinking method. The encapsulation efficiency of the nanoparticles was about 89%, and the particle size of Curcumin-loaded Chitosan nanoparticles was about 520 nm. The in vitro drug release of curcumin from Curcumin-loaded Chitosan nanoparticles under ultrasound-free condition was very slow within 0-48 h, while the release of curcumin was very quick when the Curcumin-loaded Chitosan nanoparticles were stimulated by the ultrasound within 1-45 h. The ultrasound stimulation could cause a significant effect in promoting drug release from nanocarriers, indicating the broad application prospects of the on-demand released drug delivery systems.

Automated summary

In this study, functional materials with liver-targeting and ultrasound-responsive properties were prepared by alkylating chitosan with o-nitrobenzyl. Curcumin-loaded Chitosan nanoparticles were then prepared using the ion-crosslinking method. The nanoparticles exhibited high encapsulation efficiency (89%) and a particle size of approximately 520 nm. The release of curcumin from the nanoparticles was slow under ultrasound-free conditions, but increased significantly when stimulated by ultrasound, suggesting the potential application of on-demand released drug delivery systems.