Due to the prevalence of antimicrobial resistant pathogens, natural products with long-term antimicrobial activities are considered as potential alternatives. In this work, polycaprolactone (PCL) electrospun fibers with mean diameters around 299 nm and loaded with 14.92 ± 1.31% w/w thymol (THY) were synthesized. The mats had appropriate elongation at break (74.4 ± 9.5%) and tensile strength (3.0 ± 0.5 MPa) to be potentially used as wound dressing materials. In vivo studies were performed using eight to ten week-old male SKH1 hairless mice. The infection progression was evaluated through a semiquantitative method and quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The analyses of post-mortem samples indicated that THY-loaded PCL fibers acted as inhibitors of Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 strain growth being as efficient as chlorhexidine (CLXD). Histopathological and immunohistochemical studies showed that the PCL-THY-treated wounds were almost free of an inflammatory reaction. Therefore, wound dressings containing natural compounds can prevent infection and promote wound healing and prompt regeneration.
Keywords: PCL; Staphylococcus aureus; chlorohexidine; electrospinning; thymol; wound dressing.