Chitosan is mainly used as an enzyme protein adsorbent and a method of immobilizing bacteria.
Other industrial applications.Tobacco sheet adhesive, paper industry additives, printing and dyeing auxiliary, toothpaste anti-caries bacteriostatic agent, feed additive enzyme carrier and enzyme production promoter.
Chemical industry.Used in industrial wastewater treatment for the adsorption and recovery of transition metal ions, highly selective alcohol, water separation membrane, polymeric dye additives, glass fiber finishing agents, leather finishing agents, chemical reagents, etc.
Chitosan and its derivatives meet the needs of various cosmetic physical and chemical indicators.It can be prepared into water, alcohol solvent, powder, latex, paste, sponge, gel, sol, fiber and porous granular, etc., and can be used as a stabilizer, surfactant, and thickener for cosmetics. Preservatives, clarifying agents, film-forming agents, humectants, antibacterial agents and coloring agents.
A potential tissue engineering scaffold material.The rejection reaction caused by the implantation of chitosan into the organism is small, and it can be slowly degraded and absorbed by the lysozyme in the body, that is, it has biocompatibility and bioabsorbability. Chitosan can be prepared into sponge membrane materials or fibrous scaffold materials to meet various requirements of tissue engineering for scaffold materials. Because of these characteristics, people's understanding of its application prospects in the field of biomaterials is becoming more and more profound, and its research and development are increasing.
Food.Food additives, preservatives, trace element regulators, functional biological sugar sources.
Medicinal value.The body fluid of cancer patients is generally acidified, and the appearance around the tumor is more prominent, with a pH of 6.85 to 6.95. In this acidic environment, the lymphocytes that maintain the immune function of the human body are slow to react, the immune function is reduced, and the cancer cells are rapid Proliferate and transfer. Chitosan is an alkaline substance, which can increase the pH of body fluids by 0.5, thus creating an environment that activates lymphocytes and strengthens the body's immune surveillance, thereby inhibiting tumor growth. At the same time, the polycation group R-NH4+ produced by the reaction of chitosan and gastric acid (HCl) can exhibit a strong cationic effect. After entering the bloodstream, it enters the lesion and adsorbs toxins, thus exhibiting a dual anticancer effect.
As early as 1979, it was discovered that chitosan has broad-spectrum antibacterial properties. Many experiments at home and abroad have confirmed that chitosan is more sensitive to Gram-positive bacteria and Candida albicans than Gram-negative bacteria. When the concentration is 6g/L, Staphylococcus aureus can be completely inhibited and killed.
The cationic polymer R-NH4+ which prevents arteriosclerosis and chitosan from being generated under the action of gastric acid, can absorb lipids in the gastrointestinal tract like ion exchange resins, making it difficult to digest and directly excreted from the body. The synthesis of macromolecular substances makes the small intestine unable to absorb. In addition, chitosan can directly reduce human cholesterol. Chitosan is easily combined with bile acid in the intestinal tract, so that cholesterol loses the conditions for converting it into cholesterol ester without being absorbed. At the same time, the combination of bile acid and chitosan reduces the amount of bile acid in the gallbladder, which stimulates the liver to secrete bile acid, which in turn consumes cholesterol in the blood. There are data reports that chitosan has a two-way regulatory effect on cholesterol, that is, reducing the concentration of low-density lipoprotein and increasing the concentration of high-density lipoprotein. The mechanism of this two-way regulatory effect remains to be studied.
Now, medicinal preparations and medical dressings using chitosan or its derivatives as raw materials have been formulated and produced at home and abroad for the treatment of surgical trauma, such as artificial skin, chitosan dusting, chitosan Sugar film, chitosan hemostatic sponge, medical suture and thread, etc. This is because chitosan has excellent biological compatibility, has affinity for body cells, does not produce rejection reaction, can be degraded by lysozyme, absorbed and digested, is not sensitized, is safe and low-toxic, and has good film-forming properties. High moisture permeability.
Chitosan and chitosan derivatives (such as sulfated chitosan and chitosan hydrochloride, etc.) have a direct effect on bone bud cells and can promote their differentiation. At the same time, it can also increase the activity of phosphatase, promote the synthesis of bone minerals, promote the formation of bone matrix and the calcification of bone to enhance bone strength.
