Assessing the eradication potential of fungal biofilms using acacia gum/PVA nanofibers functionalized with geraniol-β cyclodextrin inclusion complex

Abstract

The world is witnessing severe fungal co-infections with incidences of antifungal resistance and increased morbidity/mortality. The present study is focused on fabricating geraniol inclusion complex functionalized in polyvinyl alcohol/acacia gum nanofiber for mitigating fungal biofilms. The inclusion complex of geraniol was formed with β-cyclodextrin and loaded in acacia gum/PVA polymer matrix using electrospinning. The morphological and physicochemical characterization of nanofiber was performed using a myriad of techniques: FESEM, FTIR, TGA/DTGA, porosity, and storage stability etc. The geraniol loaded and unloaded nanofiber diameter was 121 ± 38 nm and 142 ± 61 nm, respectively. The drug release study has confirmed the sustained release of geraniol from nanofibers till 150 min in the medium. The geraniol released from the nanofiber matrix has efficiently inhibited 80 % of the fungal growth, as estimated by counting colony forming units (CFU) with time. Moreover, geraniol nanofibers have shown effectiveness against sessile form by inhibiting as well as eradicating 85 % of the biofilm at 10 mg/ml of nanofiber. The FDA-PI based fluorescence microscopy observations have confirmed the cidal effect on fungal cells. The in vitro cytotoxicity data on CHO cells has suggested no toxicity of nanofibers, and thus highlighting their application as antibiofilm agents for sessile fungal infections.