Sustainable drug release from polycaprolactone coated chitin-lignin gel fibrous scaffolds

Sci Rep. 2020 Nov 24;10(1):20428. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-76971-w.

Abstract

Non-healing wounds have placed an enormous stress on both patients and healthcare systems worldwide. Severe complications induced by these wounds can lead to limb amputation or even death and urgently require more effective treatments. Electrospun scaffolds have great potential for improving wound healing treatments by providing controlled drug delivery. Previously, we developed fibrous scaffolds from complex carbohydrate polymers [i.e. chitin-lignin (CL) gels]. However, their application was limited by solubility and undesirable burst drug release. Here, a coaxial electrospinning is applied to encapsulate the CL gels with polycaprolactone (PCL). Presence of a PCL shell layer thus provides longer shelf-life for the CL gels in a wet environment and sustainable drug release. Antibiotics loaded into core-shell fibrous platform effectively inhibit both gram-positive and -negative bacteria without inducting observable cytotoxicity. Therefore, PCL coated CL fibrous gel platforms appear to be good candidates for controlled drug release based wound dressing applications.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / chemistry
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology*
  • Bandages
  • Capsules
  • Chitin / chemistry*
  • Delayed-Action Preparations
  • Drug Stability
  • Gels / chemical synthesis
  • Gels / chemistry
  • Gram-Negative Bacteria / drug effects
  • Gram-Negative Bacteria / growth & development
  • Gram-Positive Bacteria / drug effects
  • Gram-Positive Bacteria / growth & development
  • Humans
  • Lignin / chemistry*
  • Mesenchymal Stem Cells / cytology
  • Mesenchymal Stem Cells / drug effects
  • Mice
  • NIH 3T3 Cells
  • Polyesters / chemistry*
  • Wound Healing / drug effects

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Capsules
  • Delayed-Action Preparations
  • Gels
  • Polyesters
  • Chitin
  • polycaprolactone
  • Lignin