Chitosan-hyaluronic acid composite sponge scaffold enriched with Andrographolide-loaded lipid nanoparticles for enhanced wound healing

In this work chitosan-hyaluronic acid composite sponge scaffold enriched with Andrographolide (AND) lipid nanocarriers was developed. Nanocarriers were prepared using solvent diffusion method by applying 23 factorial design. NLC4 had the highest desirability value (0.882) and therefore, it was chosen as an optimal nanocarrier. Itexhibited spherical shape with 253 nm, 83.04% entrapment efficiency and a prolonged release of AND up to 48-h. Consecutively, NLC4 was incorporated in a chitosan-hyaluronic acid gel and lyophilized for 24 h to obtain chitosan-hyaluronic acid/NLC4 nanocomposite sponge to enhance AND delivery to wound sites. The morphology of sponge was characterized by scanning electron microscopy. Nanocomposites showed a porosity of 56.22% with enhanced swelling. The in vivo evaluation in rats reveals that the chitosan-hyaluronic acid/NLC4 sponge enhances the wound healing with no scar and improved tissue quality. These results strongly support the possibility of using this novel chitosan-hyaluronic acid/NLC4 sponge for wound care application. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.