N-trimethyl chitosan (TMC) carriers for nasal and pulmonary delivery of therapeutic proteins and vaccines

Abstract

The research described in this thesis was aimed at evaluating the potential of particulate TMC carrier systems for delivering therapeutic proteins and antigens across respiratory (nasal and pulmonary) epithelia. To this end, TMC nanoparticles and microparticles loaded with different model proteins as well as a therapeutic protein (insulin) and antigens (influenza subunit antigen and diphtheria toxoid) were prepared and characterized, and their efficacy for nasal and pulmonary delivery of these proteins was investigated in animal models. The results presented in this thesis show that TMC formulations are promising for nasal and pulmonary delivery of therapeutic proteins and vaccines.