The present study reports, the formulation and evaluation of chitosan nanoparticles of ondansetron hydrochloride by using ionic gelation method for nasal drug delivery system. The synthesized ondansetron loaded nanoparticle is spherical shaped with an average particle size of 129.46±14.99 nm. The drug encapsulation and loading-efficiency of the nanoparticles were 64.66 ± 3.05% and 28 ± 1.23 respectively. The polydispersity index and zeta potential were found to be 0.293±0.06, +28.12±0.8 mV and the in-vitro drug release studies showed a biphasic release pattern with initial burst release followed by sustained release of ondansetron from ondansetron loaded chitosan nanoparticles. Further this study evaluates the therapeutic efficacy of ondansetron loaded chitosan nanoparticles in human nasal epithelial cell line RPMI 2650 using MTT assay. Ondansetron nanoparticles exhibit significant cytotoxicity in nasal epithelial cells in a dose dependent manner with a very low IC50 value compared to the free ondansetron. Ex vivo toxicity study on excised goat nasal mucosa was carried showed no significant adverse effect of ondansetron loaded nanoparticle. Ondansetron loaded chitosan nanoparticles is a potential new delivery system, for treatment of antiemetic, when trans-ported via olfactory nasal pathway to the brain.
