Electrospun Biomimetic Multifunctional Nanofibers Loaded with Ferulic Acid for Enhanced Antimicrobial and Wound-Healing Activities in STZ-Induced Diabetic Rats.

Sneha Anand,Shweta Jaiswal,Prashant Pandey,Ruchi Sankhwar,Sunita Thakur,Paruvathanahalli Siddalingam Rajinikanth,Ravi Kr Gupta,Dilip Kumar Arya,Kumarappan Chidambaram,Mohammed Yasmin Begum

doi:10.3390/ph15030302

Abstract

Diabetic foot ulceration is the most distressing complication of diabetes having no standard therapy. Nanofibers are an emerging and versatile nanotechnology-based drug-delivery system with unique wound-healing properties. This study aimed to prepare and evaluate silk-sericin based hybrid nanofibrous mats for diabetic foot ulcer. The nanofibrous mats were prepared by electrospinning using silk sericin mixed with different proportions of polycaprolactone (PCL) and cellulose acetate (CA) loaded with ferulic acid (FA). The in vitro characterizations, such as surface morphology, mechanical properties, swelling behavior, biodegradability, scanning electron microscopy, and drug release were carried out. The SEM images indicated that nanofibers formed with varied diameters, ranging from 100 to 250 nm, and their tensile strength was found to range from 7 to 15 MPa. In vitro release demonstrated that the nanofibers sustained FA release over an extended time of period. In vitro cytotoxicity showed that the nanofibers possessed a lower cytotoxicity in HaCaT cells. The in vivo wound-healing studies demonstrated an excellent wound-healing efficiency of the nanofibers in diabetic rats. Furthermore, the histopathological studies showed the nanofibers’ ability to restore the skin’s normal structure. Therefore, it was concluded that the prepared silk-sericin-based hybrid nanofibers loaded with FA could be a promising drug-delivery platform for the effective treatment of diabetic foot ulcers.

Highlights

Diabetic foot ulceration is the most distressing complication of diabetes, which significantly impacts a patient’s health, quality of life, and life expectancy [1]
The electrospinning technique was successfully used to prepare silk-sericin-based hybrid nanofibrous mats loaded with ferulic acid (FA) for diabetic wound healing
The results demonstrated that the mechanical properties of the silk sericin were tremendously improved when blended with cellulose acetate (CA) and PCL polymers

Summary

Introduction

Diabetic foot ulceration is the most distressing complication of diabetes, which significantly impacts a patient’s health, quality of life, and life expectancy [1]. Many new wound-healing products have entered the market that aid in wound healing in diabetes by reducing the wound area and improving the rates of limb healing. They are ineffective in controlling and healing diabetic foot ulcers because they cannot be quickly absorbed, cannot provide an ideal moist environment, cannot provide drugs with a sustained and effective release, and cannot control biofilm. Electrospun-nanofiber wound dressings have shown a multifunctional capability in healing wounds, including diabetic foot ulcers, by providing rapid absorption, maintaining the moisture microenvironment, promoting better oxygenation, promoting angiogenesis, and providing sustained and controlled release of therapeutic agents at the wound site to control the formation of biofilms. Nanofibers having a diameter the same as the extracellular matrix (ECM) have been proven to accelerate cellular processes such as cell adhesion, attachment, migration into the wound site, and proliferation [5–8]

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