Chitosan non-particulate vaccine delivery systems
The development of safe and effective vaccines is a major challenge. In addition to generating an adequate immune response, vaccines must also remain stable over time – both inside and outside the body. In their review article, Masimov and Wasan present various applications of chitosan and chitosan derivatives as adjuvants in the development of particulate and non-particulate vaccines.
Chitosan as adjuvant for vaccines
Adjuvants in vaccines are potent enhancers, which ensure that even small amounts of pathogens induce a permanent immune response. They are particularly necessary for inactivated vaccines and vaccines with antigen subunits. Several studies investigated chitosan as an adjuvant or antigen delivery system in various formulations (gels, aqueous dispersion, micro- and nanoparticles).
The world of chitosan in 2016 & chitosan as adjuvant in vaccines
At the end of the year we want to give you an overview about chitosan-related publications in 2016 and in the second part we focus on a quite different application of chitosan – how human and veterinary vaccines could benefit from chitosan as adjuvant.