Antibacterial Drug-Loaded Stimuli-Responsive Electrospun Thin Films for Wound Healing

Abstract

This study reports the preparation of pH-sensitive electrospun composite membranes, made of Eudragit L100 and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), and loaded with ciprofloxacin, to heal an infected wound. These membranes had a bead-free, uniform nanofibrous and microfibrous structure with fiber diameter of 633nm and 1.79μm. Introduction of the antibiotic resulted in significant improvement in hydrophilicity with a contact angle reduced from 76.98° to 64.56°, and swelling capacity increased about 430% and thus facilitating absorption of the wound exudate and maintaining a damp microenvironment that allows tissue regeneration. The membranes showed 5.6MPa maximum stress with 3.4% strain in dry conditions and 1.1MPa stress with 12% strain in wet conditions. At pH 7.4, more than 75% membrane is degraded, while at pH 5.6, less than 10% is degraded in 14 days. The drug release at pH 7.4 is almost 77% and less than 20% at pH 5.6. These composite membranes showed pH-dependent degradation and drug-release kinetics.