Abstract
The treatment of wounds is expensive and challenging. Most of the available wound dressings are not effective and suffer from limitations such as poor antimicrobial activity, toxicity, inability to provide suitable moisture to the wound and poor mechanical performance. The use of inappropriate wound dressings can result in a delayed wound healing process. Nanosize range scaffolds have triggered great attention because of their attractive properties, which include their capability to deliver bioactive agents, high surface area, improved mechanical properties, mimic the extracellular matrix (ECM), and high porosity. Nanofibrous materials can be further encapsulated/loaded with metal-based nanoparticles to enhance their therapeutic outcomes in wound healing applications. The widely studied metal-based nanoparticles, silver nanoparticles exhibit good properties such as outstanding antibacterial activity, display antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties, support cell growth, making it an essential bioactive agent in wound dressings. This review article reports the biological (in vivo and in vitro) and mechanical outcomes of nanofibrous scaffolds loaded with silver nanoparticles on wound healing.
Highlights
The in vitro antimicrobial evaluation of nanofibers demonstrated a high zone of inhibition against P. aeruginosa and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), suggesting that the chitosan-based nanofibers encapsulated with Ag nanoparticles are potential therapeutics for the treatment of infected wounds [76]
The antibacterial analysis on the olive oil/Ag-PU electrospun nanofibrous membranes loaded with Ag nanoparticles showed high growth inhibition of E. coli and S. aureus that are common in burn wound, indicating that the nanofibrous scaffolds are endowed with good bactericidal properties due to the introduction of olive oil and Ag nanoparticles
These nanofibers scaffolds have gained popularity globally due to their hydrophilic properties and sustained release pattern. They play a significant role in wound dressing by enhancing and accelerating the wound healing process
Summary
Wounds are generally defined as injury in the epithelial layer of the skin [1,2]. Wounds are categorized as chronic and acute wounds according to the nature and duration of their healing process [3]. On the other hand, usually heal at an expected and predictable time, depending on the extent, size, and depth of injury in the dermis and epidermis lining of the skin. The wound healing process involves four sequential phases: haemostasis, inflammatory, proliferative, and maturation phase [14,15]. Various wound dressings materials can be employed for each phase of the wound healing process, depending on their unique properties [20]. Some examples of natural polymers used to prepare wound dressings include chitosan, alginate, dextran, cellulose, chitin, elastin, etc. The dressing materials prepared from these polymers usually suffer from poor mechanical properties. This review article is focused on the biological outcomes of nanofibrous materials (i.e., nanofibrous mats and nanofibrous membranes) encapsulated with metal-based silver (Ag) nanoparticles as potential antibacterial wound dressings
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