Nasal and rectal delivery of insulin with chitosan and N-trimethyl chitosan chloride

Figures & data

Figure 1.  Plasma insulin concentration-time curve after nasal administration of chitosan hydrochloride, TMC-L and TMC-H at a concentration of 0.25% w/v (a) and at a concentration of 0.5% w/v (b) at pH 4.40 and at 0.5% w/v at a of pH7.4 (c). Each point represents the mean of six experiments.

Figure 2.  Plasma insulin concentration-time curve after rectal administration of chitosan hydrochloride, TMC-L and TMC-H (0.5% w/v) at pH 4.40 (a) and pH 7.40 (b). Each point represents the mean of six experiments.

Table 1.  Histological effects of chitosan hydrochloride, TMC-L, and TMC-H (0.5% w/v) on nasal and rectal epithelia.

Polymer	Route	Submucosa		Epithelia		Lumen
		pH 4.40	pH 7.40	pH 4.40	pH 7.40	pH 4.40	pH 7.40
Chitosan	Nasal	Slight congestion	No lesions	No lesions	No lesions	Slight increase in mucus secretion	Slight increase in mucus secretion
Hydrochlo-ride	Rectal	No lesions	No lesions	No lesions	No lesions	No lesions	No lesions
TMC-L	Nasal	Slight congestion	No lesions	No lesions	No lesions	Slight increase in mucus secretion	Slight increase in mucus secretion
	Rectal	No lesions	No lesions	No lesions	No lesions	No lesions	No lesions
TMC-H	Nasal	Mild congestion and edema	Mild congestion and edema	Slight flattening of epithelial cells	Slight flattening of epithelial cells	Mild increase in mucus secretion	Mild increase in mucus secretion
	Rectal	Mild congestion and edema	Mild congestion and edema	Slight flattening of epithelial cells	Slight flattening of epithelial cells	Mild increase in mucus secretion	Mild increase in mucus secretion

Figure 3.  The effect of chitosan hydrochloride on rectal epithelia. (a) Untreated rectal epithelia. (b) Rectal epithelia after exposure (60 min) to 0.5% w/v TMC-H at pH 7.40. Note the mild congestion and edema in the submucosa (indicated by the double arrow) and the slight flattening of the epithelial cells (indicated by the arrow).