Effect of membrane dialysis on characteristics of lyophilised chitosan wafers for potential buccal delivery of proteins

The effect of membrane dialysis on the characteristics of chitosan based lyophilised wafers was investigated. Gels loaded with BSA, glycerol and d-mannitol were lyophilised with or without membrane dialysis and characterised by X-ray diffraction, attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infra red spectroscopy, circular dichroism, scanning electron microscopy, hydration capacity, in vitro mucoadhesivity and drug dissolution. The dialysed wafers demonstrated enhanced mucoadhesion and drug release properties while newly formed sodium acetate in the undialysed wafers caused increased crystallinity with poor mucoadhesion and drug release properties. Removal of sodium acetate by membrane dialysis is essential for obtaining optimised wafers for potential application to the buccal mucosa surface.