Immunomodulatory Properties of Chitosan: Impact on Wound Healing and Tissue Repair

Objective: Chitosan, a natural polymer from shelled crustaceans, has been employed in an array of biomedical applications as it possesses a combination of fascinating attributes such as biocompatibility, biodegradability, non-toxicity and ease of chemical alteration into different active derivatives. The ability of chitosan to be tailored into different shapes has made it a very popular polymer for designing novel drug delivery systems for topical, transdermal and gene delivery. Recently, the multifunctional and immunomodulatory properties of chitosan have attracted a lot of attention. Since there are many patents and publications on medicated scaffolds, films and other topical dressings containing chitosan, an effort has been made to collate and synchronize the immunomodulatory properties of chitosan with its wound healing potential. Methods: Literature and patent search was done using major search engines and websites. Based on the studies conducted by various research groups, the information was classified into important subheadings. Results: Most of the studies suggested that due to remarkable immuno-stimulatory activities, chitosan stimulates the release of anti-inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, growth factors and hence promotes and supports every phase of wound healing, including hemostasis, inflammation, cell migration, proliferation, tissue repair and cell regeneration. Conclusion: An understanding of the immunomodulatory activities of chitosan can help the researchers and formulation scientists to use this natural polymer and its derivatives to design controlled release, medicated, self–decomposable, environment-friendly scaffolds for better patient compliance and promising wound-healing effects.