Engineering of a bilayer antibacterial wound dressing from bovine pericardium and electrospun chitosan/PVA/antibiotics for infectious skin wounds management: An in vitro and in vivo study

Abstract

Tissue deterioration and post-injury infections are the primary cause of skin diseases. Tissue engineering has developed various synthetic and natural polymers to generate bioactive scaffolds that can closely replicate the natural extracellular matrix (ECM). Decellularized tissues have emerged as a potential solution for reconstructing cutaneous lesions due to their ability to preserve the intricate protein structure and provide essential functional domains for cellular differentiation. In this study, we selected bovine pericardium and subjected it to diverse decellularization methods to optimize ECM preservation. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/chitosan (CS) infused with two clinically important antibiotics (colistin and meropenem) was directly electrospun onto the decellularized bovine pericardium (DBPS) to endow the dual-layer scaffold (DBPS-Abs) an antibacterial property. Both DBPS-Abs and DBPS demonstrated a consistent 3D microstructure with interlinked pore networks, minimal degradation, and robust mechanical stability. The DBPS-Abs group exhibited a potent antibacterial effect against standard and clinical strains of Escherichia coli. Moreover, implanting the constructs into full-thickness skin wounds in mice confirmed enhanced wound regeneration in cases treated with DBPS-Abs compared to other groups, observed over a 7- and 21-day post-implantation period. These findings highlight DBPS-Abs as a superior antibacterial wound dressing, requiring further clinical evaluations.