Chitosomes as drug delivery systems for C-phycocyanin: preparation and characterization

The aim of this work was to investigate chitosomes, i.e. liposomes coated by a polyelectrolyte complex between chitosan (CH) and xantan gum (XG), as potential delivery system for oral administration of the protein C-phycocyanin. To this purpose several CH-XG-microcomplexes were prepared in aqueous lactic acid at different chitosan-xanthan gum percent ratios and rheological properties of the microcomplexes were studied to analyse the contribution of chitosan and xanthan gum in the reaction of microcomplexation. After establishing the best microcomplexes, chitosomes were prepared by coating C-phycocyanin loaded liposomes with the CH-XG hydrogels using spray-drying or freeze-drying. The chitosomes were characterized in terms of morphology, size distribution, zeta potential, swelling properties, drug release, and mucoadhesive properties. Rheological studies showed the influence of xanthan gum in the microcomplex properties. Moreover, obtained results demonstrated the effects of formulation and process variables on particle size, drug content, swelling, drug release, and especially on the mucoadhesiveness of C-PC chitosomes of CH-XG. In particular, chitosomes prepared by spray-drying technique using CH-XG in 0.5/8.0 (w/w) ratio showed a regular surface and a drug release characteristic for a Fickian diffusion of the active ingredient. The in vitro mucoadhesive study revealed that the spray-drying method is advantageous to prepare C-phycocyanin loaded chitosomes with excellent mucoadhesive properties for colonic drug delivery.