Future aspects of biomedical applications of chitin and chitosan in diseases associated with oxidative stress

Abstract The multifunctional beneficial properties of chitosan in biomedical applications have been recognized in recent years. A major focus of these studies concerned the antioxidant properties of chitosan and its derivatives. In patients and in model rats with chronic renal failure (CRF), the application of chitosan demonstrated high antioxidant activity as well as renoprotective effects. Ingestion of surface-deacetylated chitin (SDAC) nanofibers by CRF rats resulted in a significant decrease in the levels of uremic toxins and oxidative stress, when compared with SDAC. The preparation of elastic gels SDACNFs/ sulfobutyl ether β-cyclodextrin (SBE-β-CD), starting with SDACNFs nanofibers with SBE-β-CD and containing prednisolone proved useful in the study of ulcerous colitis as an experimental model of another disease related to oxidative stress. This technique proved to be an efficient strategy for studies of the effects of chitosan and derivatives, such as SDACNF, in diseases linked to oxidative stress.