Influence of chitosan coating on the oral bioavailability of gold nanoparticles in rats

This study evaluated the oral bioavailability of gold nanoparticles coated with chitosan (C-AuNPs), a natural mucoadhesive polymer. We employed traditional method of evaluating bioavailability that involve estimation of maximum concentrations and area under the curve of 3 nm chitosan coated gold nanoparticles (C-AuNPs) in the rat plasma following intravenous and oral administrations (0.8 mg and 8 mg /kg body weight respectively). The oral bioavailability of C-AuNPs was found to be 2.46 % (approximately 25 folds higher than polyethylene glycol (PEG) coated gold nanoparticles, reported earlier). These findings suggest that chitosan coating could be better than PEG coating for the enhancement of oral bioavailability of nanoparticles.
Source: Saudi Pharmaceutical Journal - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: research