Fabrication of green poly(vinyl alcohol) nanofibers using natural deep eutectic solvent for fast-dissolving drug delivery

Fast-dissolving drug delivery systems are essential to drug delivery owing to the enhanced drug solubility, controlled drug concentration, target and rapid drug delivery. In this study, we developed fast-dissolving drug delivery systems using honey and acetylsalicylic acid-embedded poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanofibers based on natural deep eutectic solvent (DES). The efficacy of our fast-dissolving drug delivery system was tested by incorporating honey and acetylsalicylic acid in the PVA nanofibers. Firstly, the morphology and structure of the functional PVA-DES nanofibers (PVA-DES-honey and PVA-DES-ASA) were observed and analyzed, which proved the successful preparation of functional PVA-DES nanofibers. NIH/3T3 and HepG2 cells incubated on the nanofiber had more than 90% of cell viability, suggesting our materials were biocompatible and non-toxic. The nanofiber materials dissolved rapidly in artificial saliva solutions, suggesting potential use of our materials for fast dissolving drug delivery in oral cavities. The honey incorporated PVA nanofiber (PVA-DES-honey) showed a total bacterial reduction of 37.0% and 37.9% against E. coli and S. aureus, respectively, after 6 hour incubation in bacterial cultures. Furthermore, in vivo study proved that the PVA-DES-honey nanofibers accelerated the wound healing process, and they improved the wound healing rate on rat skin to 85.2% after 6 days of surgery, when compared to the control PVA (68.2%) and PVA-DES (76.3%) nanofibers. Overall, the nanofiber materials reported in our study showed potential as a green and biocompatible fast-dissolving drug delivery system and can be used for pharmaceutical fields, such as antibacterial wound dressing and oral ulcer stickers.

Automated summary

In this study, fast-dissolving drug delivery systems were developed using honey and acetylsalicylic acid-embedded PVA nanofibers based on natural DES. The morphological and cellular experiments demonstrated the biocompatibility and drug release efficacy of the materials, suggesting their potential for pharmaceutical applications.