Fabrication, Characterization of Curcumin Loaded Alginate Chitosan for Potential Wound Healing Applications

Abstract

The most employed scaffolds in tissue engineering are alginate and chitosan due to their properties like biodegradability, compatibility, and structural similarity to that of the ECM. Curcumin, together with scaffolds such as alginate and chitosan, can improve wound healing properties by tissue repair and regeneration. This study aims to load curcumin into alginate chitosan scaffolds and to analyze their potential wound healing properties by characterization and checking their biocompatibility. Curcumin was loaded into the alginate-chitosan scaffold. It was then characterized using Fourier Transform-InfraRed (FT-IR) spectroscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Annexin V PI apoptotic assay and Hemolytic assay were done to screen its biocompatibility. FT-IR has strong absorption bands at 3237, 2359, 1597, 1406, 1025, and 947 cm−1. SEM analysis of the curcumin-loaded alginate-chitosan scaffold showed the dispersed curcumin on the surface of the porous scaffold. Our results suggest that the curcumin-loaded alginate-chitosan scaffold possesses greater biocompatibility towards peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) which was confirmed by Annexin V - PI assay and hemolytic assay. Curcumin loaded onto an alginate-chitosan scaffold is reported to be biocompatible using flow cytometry and hemolytic assay. However a more detailed study must be done before using it for potential wound healing applications.