Abstract
Improved physicochemical properties of chitosan-curcumin nanoparticulate carriers using microwave technology for skin burn wound application are reported. The microwave modified low molecular weight chitosan variant was used for nanoparticle formulation by ionic gelation method nanoparticles analyzed for their physicochemical properties. The antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa cultures, cytotoxicity and cell migration using human dermal fibroblasts—an adult cell line—were studied. The microwave modified chitosan variant had significantly reduced molecular weight, increased degree of deacetylation and decreased specific viscosity. The nanoparticles were nano-sized with high positive charge and good dispersibility with entrapment efficiency and drug content in between 99% and 100%, demonstrating almost no drug loss. Drug release was found to be sustained following Fickian the diffusion mechanism for drug release with higher cumulative drug release observed for formulation (F)2. The microwave treatment does not render a destructive effect on the chitosan molecule with the drug embedded in the core of nanoparticles. The optimized formulation precluded selected bacterial strain colonization, exerted no cytotoxic effect, and promoted cell migration within 24 h post application in comparison to blank and/or control application. Microwave modified low molecular weight chitosan-curcumin nanoparticles hold potential in delivery of curcumin into the skin to effectively treat skin manifestations.
Highlights
Being the largest human organ, skin is often susceptible to defects sometimes being congenital defect and mostly by burn, trauma or diseases which have long lasting effect on the wellbeing and psychology of the patient
Under the influence of microwaves, chitosan chain scission took place at the main chain and at the amide linkage between the amino functional group of the parent chain and acetyl moiety which significantly reduced the particle size and increased the surface charge with microwave scission of HMW chitosan due to reduced acetyl content
Increase in the degree of deacetylation leads to formation of more free NH2 functional groups on the chitosan chain with reduced acetyl content, which is envisaged to impart more positive surface charge onto the chitosan chain due to protonation of NH2 by the free protons available in the acidic media, leading to a higher magnitude of the positive surface charge which is deemed favorable for the stability of nanoparticles due to mutual repulsion and prevents aggregation
Summary
Being the largest human organ, skin is often susceptible to defects sometimes being congenital defect and mostly by burn, trauma or diseases which have long lasting effect on the wellbeing and psychology of the patient. Autografts, allografts and xenografts has been used for the purpose They are able to promote wound healing but they have inherent demerits of limited availability, high expenses, immune incompatibility, risk of infection and shortage of donor sites [2,3,4]. These demerits gave birth to developing skin scaffolds able to hasten the skin regeneration. The process of tissue engineering enables self-healing potential of human body for regeneration of lost, damaged or injured tissues/organs which is enabled by creating suitable cell environment for its survival and functional achievements [5,6]. Various attempts has been made to formulate/develop skin substitutes to hasten the normal wound healing process including hydrogels [7], sponges [8], polymeric nanoparticles [9], nanofibers [10] and polymeric films [11] etc
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