As a water-soluble polymeric material based on a polysaccharide

carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCTs) has been widely used in the fields of medicine and industry in virtue of their excellent properties such as biocompatibility

biodegradability

moisturizing

hemostasis

antibacterial and absorbability. After being implanted

CMCTs could be degraded while involved in enzyme

oxygen

microbial

water and other suitable environments through absorption

metabolism and excretion. The rate of

in vivo

degradation mainly depends on the size

degree of deacetylation

degree of substitution and molecular weight of the sample. Exploring the degradation and metabolism behavior of CMCTs

in vivo

was essential for the quality control and clinical application of CMCTs. Up to now

the mechanism of the degradation and metabolism of CMCTs in organs in terms of its absorption

distribution

metabolism and excretion patterns

in vivo

is not well elucidated

which would limit its application in the field of biomaterials. Therefore

this review aims to summarize the degradation and metabolism behavior of CMCTs based biomaterials reported in recent years. The biological properties

degradation mode and metabolic process of CMCTs were reviewed. The

in vivo

distribution of metabolism and pathway of excretion during the degradation of CMCTs were interpreted. Meanwhile

the key factors

such as size of implants

degree of deacetylation

degree of substitution

molecular weight

degree of crosslinking and composition

which influence the degradation of CMCTs were also summarized. This work is expected to provide a reference for the research and development of CMCTs based biomaterials.