In this rubric we present you scientific news from the world of chitin and chitosan. Monthly you can find recent publications. We hope to arouse your interest in this biopolymer or to help you out. If you have any comments or if you do chitin or chitosan research and you want to publish your article on this page,
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The efficient treatment of wounds remains a major challenge in modern medicine. Infections, in particular, are one of the main factors that can delay or even prevent healing. While traditional dressings primarily serve a protective function, the development of active, multifunctional wound dressings has increasingly come into focus.
Liver fibrosis is a serious disease characterized by excessive deposition of connective tissue, which can progress to cirrhosis if left untreated. Conventional therapeutic approaches are often insufficient to halt the remodeling of liver tissue. In pharmaceutical research, nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems are therefore gaining increasing importance – particularly those based on chitosan nanoparticles.
Antibiotics in aquatic environments pose a growing threat – they promote the emergence of resistant bacterial strains and disrupt ecosystems. A team of researchers has therefore developed a new adsorbent capable of efficiently removing ciprofloxacin (a widely used broad-spectrum antibiotic) from water. The combination: Chitosan / Polyacrylamide / Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-8 (CPZ).
Additive manufacturing - especially 3D printing of hydrogels - requires materials that are not only formable and biocompatible but also precisely tunable. A recent study investigated hydrogels based on chitosan, graphene, and titanium dioxide to optimize printability and shape fidelity.
Innovative therapeutics increasingly require highly specialized delivery systems. In the recent publication “Dual-sensitive gelatin-coated chitosan microparticles (GL-ChMPs) for targeted lung delivery”, researchers present a promising strategy: chitosan-based microparticles coated with gelatin that can transport drugs directly to the lungs – smart, sensitive, and efficient.
Oral infections such as periodontitis, peri implantitis, or wound healing complications after tooth extractions remain major challenges in dentistry. Commonly used antibiotics or systemic therapies often reach their limits: drug concentrations at the infection site are frequently insufficient, while side effects and resistance development pose additional risks. For this reason, locally active, bioactive materials are gaining increasing attention in research.