Antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and anticancer activities of chitosan and its derivatives: Basic mechanisms

Deacetylation of chitin extracted from the exoskeleton of crustaceans leads to the production of chitosan, one of the abundant biocompatible biopolymers. This biodegradable polymer has been employed significantly in pharmaceutical, nutritional, and cosmetic sections. In the case of antibacterial activity, chitosan can bind chitosan (positive charge) to the bacterial cell wall (negative charge) leading to damage to the cell wall and increased membrane permeability. The degree of chitin deacetylation and the molecular weight of chitosan influence antibacterial capacity. For antifungal activity, studies showed disintegration of fungal cell membranes followed by leakage of biological macromolecules dependent on weight fractions of chitosan. As the indirect antiviral mechanism, chitosan can stimulate the immune response by induction of interferon synthesis by macrophages. Chitosan and its derivatives can increase the anticancer effects of other anticancer agents by regulating the antioxidant defense mechanism, angiogenesis, apoptotic pathways, and cellular enzymatic functions. In this mini-review, antimicrobial and anticancer aspects of novel formulations in both micro and nanoscale of chitosan polymer with other therapeutic agents have been presented.

Keywords:

Chitin deacetylation , Biocompatible biopolymer , Membrane permeability , Biological macromolecules , apoptotic pathways