Biological effects of chitosan oligosaccharides on the skin and their clinical applicability.

The skin can be divided into the epidermis and dermis, which each performing distinct functions based on their diverse components, including their respective primary cells, keratinocytes and fibroblasts. The anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, immune-modulating, and anti-cancer effects of chitosan oligosaccharides have been investigated in several studies in the field of biomedical sciences. However, the relationship between skin and skin diseases and chitosan oligosaccharides has received relatively little attention as compared to the application studies such as chemically modification, scaffold, drug carrier, and etc. Therefore, we aimed to review the results of existing studies on the biological effects of chitosan oligosaccharides on the cellular composition of the skin and skin diseases. Based on the results of the review, we present the outlook for skin research using chitosan oligosaccharides and their clinical applicability.