European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

INTRANASAL CHITOSAN MICROSPHERES FOR THE TREATMENT OF EPILEPSY

Jayshree B. Taksande*, Milind J. Umekar, Payal R. Gotmare, Snehal D. Dhadse, Komal V. Yadav, Shivani A. Chand

ABSTRACT

Epilepsy is a chronic medical condition with many social facets. Till date a number of drugs are available to treat various types of epilepsies, these drugs act by one or more mechanisms to treat this psychiatric disorder. A significant percentage of patients with epilepsy continue to experience seizures despite aggressive treatment with one or more antiepileptic drugs, which lead to an unmet clinical need of more effective and less toxic anti-epileptic drugs. Although the pharmacological treatment of epilepsy has made remarkable breakthroughs but there are certain Limitations of current pharmacotherapy in epilepsy. In this context, alternative administration strategies that provide a more efficient delivery of anti-epileptic agents to the brain are urgently needed. The intranasal administration as a means of delivering therapeutic agents preferentially to the brain has recently gained significant interest. Particulate carrier technology offers a valuable advance for intra nasal drug delivery systems by the introduction of carriers such as microspheres, emulsions, liposomes etc. Chitosan is one of the most promising polymers because of its nontoxic, polycationic, biocompatible, and biodegradable nature, and particularly due to its mucoadhesive and permeation-enhancing properties. The strong mucoadhesive property of chitosan is most important for drug delivery through the mucosal routes. To facilitate the mucoadhesion in intra-nasal administration several drug delivery systems have been recently developed, which increase the contact time of drug to mucous membrane and enhance its absorption.

Keywords: Chitosan, Mucoadhesive microsphere, Intranasal administration, Epilepsy.