Comparison of the preparation methods of four chitosan microcapsules by complex coacervation

Objective To study the preparation of chitosan microspheres by complex coacervation method,and to compare their performance.Methods Microcapsules were prepared by chitosan with carmellose sodium,arabic gum,gelatin or sodium alginate.The single factor experimental design using the standard of drug-encapsulation,and drug-load,and recovery percent,was applied to optimize the ratio of wall materials.The performance of several microcapsule drug release in vitro was investigated.Results The average drug-encapsulation of the four kinds chitosan microcapsules was 30%-62% and size around 1-2 μm.The vitro release of microcapsules indicated that these microcapsules had good sustained release performance in vitro.The optimal ratio of wall materials was as follows:chitosan-carmellose sodium 1∶0.2,while the chitosan-arabic gum,the chitosan-gelatin or the chitosan-sodium alginate was 1∶1.Conclusion The microcapsules of composite chitosan could be prepared by using the similar process.The microcapsules of chitosan-gelatin better than other microcapsules.