Erythrocytes load of low molecular weight chitosan nanoparticles as a potential vascular drug delivery system

Low molecular weight (LMW) chitosan nanoparticles have attracted considerable attention as colloidal drug carriers, but when applied to intravascular drug delivery, they are easy to be removed from circulation by the reticuloendothelial system, which limits their applications as long-circulating or target-specific carriers. Erythrocytes have a long circulation time in the blood, but they are sometimes not suitable for loading and releasing of drug directly. The combination of LMW chitosan nanoparticles and erythrocytes that complement each other is a desirable strategy to develop a multifunctional drug carrier. In this study, monodisperse, LMW chitosan nanoparticles were prepared by ionic gelation technique and these nanoparticles were investigated with regard to their erythrocyte compatibility. Then the interactions between erythrocytes and fluorescence-labeled LMW chitosan nanoparticles were studied by confocal microscopy. The results of this study indicate that LMW chitosan nanoparticles show good compatibility with erythrocytes and they can be easily attached to the surface of erythrocyte membrane, suggesting that erythrocytes load of LMW chitosan nanoparticles can be served as a potential vascular drug delivery system.

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► Monodisperse, fluorescent LMW chitosan nanoparticles were prepared.
► Aggregation morphology of LMW chitosan nanoparticles were investigated.
► LMW chitosan nanoparticles show good compatibility with erythrocytes.
► LMW chitosan nanoparticles can be easily attached to erythrocyte membrane.
► The composite carrier can be served as a potential vascular drug delivery system.