Construction and characterization of nanosized curdlan sulfate/chitosan polyelectrolyte complex toward drug release of zidovudine

In this study, as-synthesized curdlan sulfate (CRDS) with a flexible random coil chain was selected as a polyanion to construct nanosized polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs) with a polycation, chitosan (CS), via electrostatic interactions. Nanosized PECs were formed simply by mixing CRDS (0.5 mg/mL) and CS (0.5 mg/mL) at a mass ratio of 2:1 at pH 3.5. The CRDS/CS PECs exhibited a spherical morphology with a Z-average diameter of around 180 nm and a zeta potential value of about −38 mV. Subsequently, zidovudine (AZT) as a model antiviral drug was successfully encapsulated into the nanosized PECs with a favorable drug loading efficiency. The AZT-loaded PECs presented a controlled and pH-dependent AZT release profile. These findings suggest that the CRDS/CS PECs constructed in the present study can be developed as potential nanocarriers for drug delivery applications.