Taurine-loaded poly (ε-caprolactone)/gelatin electrospun mat as a potential wound dressing material: In vitro and in vivo evaluation

In this study, taurine (2-aminoethane sulfonic acid), an amino acid found in large amounts in most mammalian tissues, was incorporated with poly (epsilon-caprolactone) and gelatin in order to develop a drug-loaded composite wound dressing material. The composite mats from poly (epsilon-caprolactone)/gelatin (1:1 (w/w)) solution incorporated with 3%, 5%, and 10% (w/w) of taurine were produced by electrospinning. The electrospun mats were evaluated regarding their morphology, wettability, water uptake capacity, water vapor transmission rate, tensile strength, and cellular response with L929 cell line. The mat containing 5% of taurine was chosen as the optimum dressing for in vivo study on the full-thickness excisional wounds of Wistar rats. The results showed that after 2weeks, the wounds treated with the taurine-loaded dressing achieved a significant closure to nearly 92% compared with the sterile gauze, as control, which showed nearly 68% of wound closure. The histological examination of the wounds revealed that the wounds treated with the taurine-loaded dressing had densely packed collagen fibers with parallel alignment. Whereas, the sterile gauze-treated wounds had loosely packed collagen fibers with an irregular arrangement. Our results provided evidence supporting the possible applicability of the taurine-loaded wound dressings for successful wound treatment.