Artemisia annuaL. as a promising medicinal plant for powerful wound healing applications

Artemisia annua L.has been utilized for the first time in a nanofibrous wound dressing composition. The extract of this valuable plant provides anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and anti-microbial properties which can be considered as a promising medicinal component in therapeutic applications. In the present work,Artemisia annuaL. was picked up from Gorgan forest area of Northern Iran and its extract was prepared by methanol as the extraction solvent. In the fabrication of wound dressing,Artemisia annuaL. extract was mixed with gelatin and a nanofibrous structure was formed by electrospinning technique. To have a wound dressing with acceptable stability and optimum mechanical properties, this biologically active layer was formed on a PCL nanofibrous base layer. The fabricated double-layer wound dressing was analyzed chemically, structurally, mechanically and biologically. ATR-FTIR spectra of the prepared wound dressing contain functional groups ofArtemisia annuaL. as peroxide groups, etc. SEM micrographs of electrospun gelatin/Artemisia annuaL. confirmed the successful electrospinning process for producingArtemisia annuaL.-containing nanofibers with mean diameter of 242.00 +/- 67.53 nm. In vitroArtemisia annuaL. release study of the fabricated wound dressings suggests a sustain release over 7 days for the crosslinked sample. In addition, evaluation of the in vitro structural stability of the prepared wound dressings confirmed the stability of the crosslinked nanofibrous structures in PBS solution environment. Biological study of theArtemisia annuaL.-containing wound dressing revealed no cytotoxicity, good proliferation and attachment of the seeded fibroblasts cells and acceptable antibacterial property againstStaphylococcus aureusbacteria.