Nanoparticles of glycol chitosan and its thiolated derivative significantly improved the pulmonary delivery of calcitonin

A novel thiomer derivative of glycol chitosan (GCS) was synthesized by coupling with thioglycolic acid (TGA) and evaluated for the pulmonary delivery of peptides. Nanoparticles (NPs) based on GCS and GCS–TGA were obtained by the ionic gelation method and demonstrated a particle size in the range of 0.23–0.33 μm with positive surface charge and high calcitonin entrapment. Fluorescent GCS–TGA NPs resulted in a 2-fold increase in mucoadhesion to lung tissue after intra-tracheal administration to rats as compared to non-thiolated NPs. Evaluation of pulmonary toxicity revealed the biocompatibility of the two nanoparticulate formulations with lung tissue. The efficacy of the prepared NPs to enhance the pulmonary absorption of peptides was evaluated after pulmonary administration to rats using a liquid micro-sprayer technique. Calcitonin-loaded GCS and GCS–TGA NPs resulted in a pronounced hypocalcemic effect for at least 12 and 24 h, and a corresponding pharmacological availability of 27 and 40%, respectively. These findings suggest that both GCS and its thiomer derivative are promising and safe carriers for pulmonary peptide delivery.