Chitosan citrate membrances for naproxen delivery

ABSTRACT: Chitosan citrate, chitosan citrate/glycerol and chitosan citrate/poly(ethylene glycol) blend membranes were prepared by the solvent casting method. Citrate ion was used as the ionic crosslinker. Glycerol and PEG were added to improve flexibility, and sodium chloride to introduce porosity. The primary concerns in the selection of all components were biocompatibility and safety. Chemical structures of the membranes have been investigated by FTIR spectrophotometry, while the surface morphology has been investigated by SEM analysis. Swelling kinetics has been followed gravimetrically. Naproxen, an analgesic and anti-inflammatory agent, has been used as a model drug to test for the drug release properties of the membranes. It was found out that swelling, drug loading capacity and drug release properties were affected by the composition and the porosity of the membrane. The maximum release percentage was 31% for the membranes with 1% w/v chitosan concentration while the maximum percentage was 25% for the membranes with 0.5% w/v chitosan concentration. All membranes exhibited a burst effect within the first hour. Then a linear release which obeyed zero order release kinetics was observed between 1-6 hours with release rates changing between 1.2%/h to 0.99%/h, except for the sample 7 whose release rate was 0.41%/h between 2-12 hours. Keywords: Drug delivery, Crosslinking, Chitosan membranes, Citrate, Naproxen. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………