Formulation of Innovative Hybrid Chitosan/TiO2- and Chitosan/SiO2-Based Drug-Delivery Systems

In this work an innovative drug-delivery system (DDS) was formulated by using a hybrid matrix as carrier. In order to achieve the optimal synergy between the organic and the inorganic components, a series of TiO2-chitosan and SiO2-chitosan systems were synthesized by varying, among the several parameters, the chitosan molecular weight, chitosan amount, and the chemical modification of inorganic precursors. Ibuprofen and metoprolol tartrate were chosen as model drugs. The physicochemical nature of the surface carriers has been investigated by means of N2 physisorption measurements, thermal analyses (TG-DTA), infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM); drug-delivery tests are performed in vitro in three different physiological solutions (simulating the gastrointestinal tract) in order to analyze the behavior of the hybrid-based systems as oral DDS formulations. The use of optimal synthetic conditions allowed us to obtain a hybrid drug-delivery system that is highly biocompatible, chemically resistant, and has high control of drug release.