Marine collagen polymeric sponge impregnated with phyto-silver nanoparticles for burn therapy

Physical trauma caused by burn injuries can be life-threatening and poses financial hardship for the patient too. Treatment of wounds is a major clinical challenge in burn therapy. The purpose of this study was to devise a phyto nanoparticle-loaded dressing for burn management. The triad of nanotechnology, phytochemistry and skin tissue engineering forms an innovative concept for the management of burn wounds. Our marine biosphere is blessed with numerous natural resources of biopolymers, and marine-derived collagen is one of the major polymers that exhibit biocompatible and biomimetic properties. For fabricating the phyto-nano impregnated collagen sponge construct, fish collagen was extracted from Red Snapper (Lutjanus argentimaculatus) and incorporated with green synthesized silver nanoparticles (MJSN) biosynthesized from Mirabilis jalapa tuber extract (MJTE). Finally, the biofuntionalized collagen was freeze-dried to yield sponges. MJSN and collagen sponge were characterized separately and as a combination product, by different methods like UV-vis/FTIR spectroscopy, XRD, DLS, Zeta potential, SEM and TEM. Furthermore, an optimum dose concentration of MJSN was assessed by carrying out a direct contact test with L929 mouse fibroblasts, followed by MTT and LDH assays to assess cytotoxicity, viability and cytocompatibility. From the findings of this study, MJSN incorporated collagen sponges were non-cytotoxic and cytocompatible and may be proposed for dual applications of sustained drug delivery and tissue regeneration in the healing of burn wounds that still remains an unmet clinical need in tissue reconstruction.

Automated summary

This study aims to design a phyto nanoparticle-loaded dressing for burn management using a combination of nanotechnology, phytochemistry, and skin tissue engineering. The results show that MJSN-incorporated collagen sponges are non-cytotoxic and cytocompatible, making them suitable for sustained drug delivery and tissue regeneration in the treatment of burn wounds.