Methods of Fabrication of Chitosan-Based Nano-in-Microparticles (NMPs)

Chitosan nano-in-microparticles (NMPs) are promising carrier systems that have gained recently more interest aiming to combine advantages of both the nano- and microsystems. They have been employed for various purposes including sustained pulmonary delivery of drugs and pulmonary delivery of peptides, proteins, or genes or as injectable scaffolds for simultaneous delivery of stem cells and supporting growth factors. Among these delivery systems, chitosan was a common ingredient due to its biocompatibility, biodegradability, and ability to sustain the release of drugs and improving their bioavailability. Here we introduce a method for the development of chitosan self-assembly nanoparticles and the incorporation of these nanoparticles into chitosan microparticles via spray drying.