Evaluation of wound healing efficiency of vancomycin-loaded electrospun chitosan/poly ethylene oxide nanofibers in full thickness wound model of rat

Electrospun hybrid nanofibers have been extensively regarded as drug carriers. This study tries to introduce a nano fibrous wound dressing as a new strategy for a topical drug-delivery system. The vancomycin (VCM)loaded hybrid chitosan/poly ethylene oxide (CH/PEO) nanofibers were fabricated by the blend-electrospinning process. Morphological, mechanical, chemical, and biological properties of nanofibers were examined by SEM, FTIR, release profile study, tensile assay, Alamar Blue cytotoxicity evaluation, and antibacterial activity assay. In vivo wound healing activity of hybrid CH/PEO/VCM nanofibers was evaluated in full-thickness skin wounds of rats. The hybrid CH/PEO/VCM nanofibers were successfully fabricated in a nanometer. The CH/PEO/VCM 2.5% had higher Young's Modulus, better tensile strength, smaller fiber diameter with sustained-release profiles compared to CH/PEO/VCM 5%. All nanofibers did not show any significant cytotoxicity (P < 0.05) on the normal fibroblast cells. Also, VCM-load hybrid CH/PEO nanofibers successfully inhibited bacterial growth. The wound area in the rats treated with CH/PEO/VCM 2.5% was less than CH/PEO/VCM 5% treated group. According to histological evaluation, the CH/PEO/VCM 2.5% group showed the fastest wound healing than other treatment groups. Results of this study proposed that CH/PEO/VCM nanofibers could promote the wound healing process by reducing the side effects of VCM as a topical antimicrobial agent. (c) 2021 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Automated summary

This study successfully fabricated hybrid chitosan/polyethylene oxide/vancomycin nanofibers and found that CH/PEO/VCM 2.5% exhibited better mechanical properties and smaller fiber diameter. All nanofibers showed no significant cytotoxicity to normal cells and effectively inhibited bacterial growth. The wound healing process was promoted by CH/PEO/VCM 2.5%, with faster healing observed compared to other treatment groups.