• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.404-409
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• 2017

Natural polymer chitosan has been widely applied to medical fields due to its biochemical activities such as anticancer, antibacterial and lowering cholesterol in addition to biocompatibility and biodegradability. Currently, researches are being actively conducted to develop various drug-encapsulated chitosan nanoparticles for curing different diseases by applying chitosan to a drug delivery system. The free amine ($-NH_2$) group present in chitosan can bind to various hydrophobic groups by physical and chemical modification and the chitosan with hydrophobic groups can form shell-core nanoparticles by self-assembly when dispersed in water. In addition, an insoluble drug can increase the solubility against water when it was encapsulated in the core of chitosan nanoparticles. Also, the therapy effect can be maximized by minimizing side effects of drugs such as proteins, anticancer drugs and vaccines when they were encapsulated in the core of chitosan nanoparticles. Moreover, it is possible to control the particle size and release rate according to the hydrophobic group introduced to chitosan, so that it can be applied to a wide range of medical fields. The purpose of this review is to discuss the preparation and property of chitosan nanoparticles modified with various hydrophobic groups, and the application to drug delivery systems according to their property.