Nanoparticulated polymeric composites enfolding lithium carbonate as brain drug in persuading depression: an in vivo study

Lithium carbonate is considered an effective drug against mania and acts as a mood stabilizer. It is found that it enhances antidepressants targeting depression, consequently it is prone to have risk factors that leads to adverse effects. The study is devised in confronting depression under nanoscale by preparing nanocomposites which is a matrix of biopolymer chitosan that encapsulates lithium carbonate by ionic gelation method. This facilitates the drug delivery in a regulated manner targeting the therapeutic action with a limited dosage that lessens the side effects in the course of treatment. The drug polymer interaction was validated by XRD studies, whereas the morphology and size characterization by SEM and zetasizer. The average particle size was determined as 193 ± 0.18 nm with a positive zeta potential of 37.9 mV. The in vitro drug release patterns of nanocomposites were comparatively assayed with the standard lithium carbonate which rendered a controlled release in its profile. The in vivo investigation by animal despair studies bestowed a significant difference in the duration of immobility during force swimming and tail suspension tests. These results were substantiated with histopathological examinations of cerebral cortex region which showed mild cellular edema, degenerative changes and lymphocytic infiltration when compared with the control groups. Consequently, the efficacy of nanocomposites encased with lithium carbon fortifies targeted drug delivery and restrains adverse effects by endorsing it as a lead compound in brain drug developmental research.