The need for more advantageous and pharmaceutically active wound dressings is a pressing matter in the area of wound management. In this study, we explore the possibility of incorporating thymoquinone within bacterial cellulose, utilising cyclodextrins as a novel method of solubilising hydrophobic compounds. The thymoquinone was not soluble in water, so was incorporated within hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin before use. Thymoquinone: hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin inclusion complex produced was found to be soluble in water up to 7% (w/v) and was stable with no crystal formation for at least 7 days with the ability to be loaded within the bacterial cellulose matrix. The inclusion complex was found to be thermally stable up to 280 °C which is far greater than the production temperature of 80 °C and was stable in phosphate-buffered saline and extraction solvents in permeation and dose experiments. The adhesion properties of the Thymoquinone: hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin loaded bacterial cellulose dressings were tested and found to be 2.09 N. Permeation studies on skin mimicking membrane Strat-M showed a total permeated amount (0-24 h) of 538.8 µg cm-2 and average flux after a 2 h lag of 22.4 µg h-1 cm-2. To the best of our knowledge, the methods outlined in this study are the first instance of loading bacterial cellulose with thymoquinone inclusion complex with the aim of producing a pharmaceutically active wound dressing.
Keywords: anti-fungal; bacterial cellulose; biomaterials; biopolymer; controlled drug release; experimental dermatology; wound dressing.