Pharmacokinetics and biodegradation performance of a hydroxypropyl chitosan derivative

Hydroxypropyl chitosan (HP-chitosan) has been shown to have promising applications in a wide range of areas due to its biocompatibility, biodegradability and various biological activities, especially in the biomedical and pharmaceutical fields. However, it is not yet known about its pharmacokinetics and biodegradation performance, which are crucial for its clinical applications. In order to lay a foundation for its further applications and exploitations, here we carried out fluorescence intensity and GPC analyses to determine the pharmacokinetics mode of fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled HP-chitosan (FITC-HP-chitosan) and its biodegradability. The results showed that after intraperitoneal administration at a dose of 10 mg per rat, FITC-HP-chitosan could be absorbed rapidly and distributed to liver, kidney and spleen through blood. It was indicated that FITC-HP-chitosan could be utilized effectively, and 88.47% of the FITC-HP-chitosan could be excreted by urine within 11 days with a molecular weight less than 10 kDa. Moreover, our data indicated that there was an obvious degradation process occurred in liver (< 10 kDa at 24 h). In summary, HP-chitosan has excellent bioavailability and biodegradability, suggesting the potential applications of hydroxypropyl-modified chitosan as materials in drug delivery, tissue engineering and biomedical area.