Interaction between cholesterol and chitosan in Langmuir monolayers

Chitosan incorporated in the aqueous subphase is found to affect the Langmuir monolayers of cholesterol, causing the surface pressure and the surface potential isotherms to become more expanded. The mean molecular area per cholesterol molecule in the condensed monolayer increases from 53 Ų in the absence of chitosan to 61 Ų for a concentration of 0.100 mg/mL of chitosan in the subphase. If additional chitosan is incorporated in the subphase, no change is noted, which points to saturation in the effects from chitosan. The interaction between chitosan and cholesterol probably occurs via hydrogen bonding. The monolayer expansion is also manifested in the monolayer morphology, as indicated by Brewster angle microscopy measurements, where larger cholesterol domains are visualized when chitosan is present in the subphase.