Drug loaded electrospun Casein/PVA nanofibers for wound dressings

Diana Isabel Centeio Nobre

Key information

Authors:

Diana Isabel Centeio Nobre (Diana Isabel Centeio Nobre)

Supervisors:

Raquel Sofia Cardoso Galante; Ana Paula Valagão Amadeu do Serro (Ana Paula Valagão Amadeu do Serro)

Published in

December 3, 2021

Abstract

The purpose of this work was to develop drug loaded electrospun casein/PVA nanofibers (NF) intended for wound dressings applications. The production conditions were studied and optimized with regard to initial dispersion viscosity, flow rate (0.5ml/h), voltage (25 kV), distance to collector (10 cm), and needle diameter (18G) in order to determine the desired morphology. Next, different active agents were added to the formulations: (polyhexanide, octenidine+phenoxyethanol (Octiset®) and zinc oxide. In order to avoid the observed, instant solubilization of the produced nanofibers in aqueous media, a crosslinking step was carried out using glutaraldehyde vapor. The nanofibers were characterized as follows: surface morphology/topography, swelling capacity, degradation rate, wettability, porosity, drug release behaviour, antibacterial activity, irritation, cytotoxicity, and hemocompatibility. In general, the formulations showed high swelling capacity (150-450%), hydrophilicity and some degradation in water (20-100%) and enzymatic solution (30-60%) and values of surface area compatible with the intended use as wound dressings (5-100 m2/g). NFs loaded with drugs (Octiset® and Polyhexanide) showed a controlled release for 24 hours. All formulations showed antimicrobial activity with a reduction in the microbial growth (30-80%), no irritation in the HET-CAM test, no cytotoxicity (> 70% cell viability) and good hemocompatibility (< 2%), demonstrating their potential for wound care applications, with exception to the crosslinked Octiset. These results suggest that electrospun casein/PVA nanofibers can be tailored and functionalized with active agents in order to be used as effective solutions for wound care.