Evaluation of solubility and biocompatibility of chitosan in vivo

Bie Xiaomei; Li Zhonghai; Yan Leyuan; Yu Qingbo; Bai Yulong; Han Liwei; Zhao Yantao

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1672-8521.2014.03.009

Abstract：Objective:To observe the solubility and other related properties of chitosan when dissolved in acetic acid solution,and to evaluate the compatibility and degradability of acid-soluble and water-soluble chitosan in vi-vo,in order to provide references for chitosan tissue engineering scaffold preparation and application.Methods:Ch-itosan was dissolved in 1% acetic acid to obtain acid-soluble solution with the concentration of 1%,2%,3%, 4%,then the liquid viscosity and pH value were analyzed by viscosity analysis instrument and pH meter. 2% acid-soluble chitosan was diluted with 1% acetic acid to obtain chitosan solution in different concentrations (1%, 1.5%,2%,2.5%,3%),and the liquid viscosity and pH were also determined. The histocompatibility of both acid-soluble and water-soluble chitosan was observed under microscope,and degradability was also observed by implanting 0.1 g acid-soluble or water-soluble chitosan into muscle of mice. Results:The viscosity and pH value were increased with the concentration of chitosan while the viscosity and pH value were lowered with the increase of acidity when equal amount of chitosan was dissolved in acetic acid at different pH. The biocompatibility of wa-ter-soluble chitosan was superior to that of acid-soluble chitosan. Water-soluble chitosan degradated within 7days, while the degradation period of acid-soluble chitosan was longer than 2 1 days.Conclusions:The results show that the solubility of acid-soluble chitosan is related to the pH of acetic acid solution,and viscosity and pH value of the chitosan solution were correlated with concentration of both chitosan and acetic acid. The biocompatibility and de-gradability of water-soluble chitosan is significantly superior to acid-soluble chitosan.