Self-assembled nanoparticles based on linoleic-acid modified carboxymethyl-chitosan as carrier of adriamycin (ADR)

Linoleic-acid (LA) is covalently conjugated to carboxymethyl-chitosan via a 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyyl)-carbodiimide-mediated (EDC-mediated) reaction to generate self-aggregated chitosan nanoparticles by sonication. The average diameter of the particles is 417.8 nm, with a size range from 222.8 nm to 1028 nm. Adriamycin (ADR) can be physically entrapped into the self-aggregates. The drug loading experiments indicate that the loading capacity and efficiency increase with increasing concentration of ADR. ADR is slowly released from chitosan self-aggregates for about 3 days. Furthermore, the effects of drug controlled release become more obvious on increasing the pH value.