Chitosan-hyaluronic acid composite sponge scaffold enriched with Andrographolide-loaded lipid nanoparticles for enhanced wound healing.

In this work chitosan-hyaluronic acid composite sponge scaffold enriched with Andrographolide (AND) lipid nanocarriers was developed. Nanocarriers were prepared using solvent diffusion method by applying 2 factorial design. NLC4 had the highest desirability value (0.882) and therefore, it was chosen as an optimal nanocarrier. Itexhibited spherical shape with 253nm, 83.04% entrapment efficiency and a prolonged release of AND up to 48-h. Consecutively, NLC4 was incorporated in a chitosan-hyaluronic acid gel and lyophilized for 24h to obtain chitosan-hyaluronic acid/NLC4 nanocomposite sponge to enhance AND delivery to wound sites. The morphology of sponge was characterized by scanning electron microscopy. Nanocomposites showed a porosity of 56.22% with enhanced swelling. The in vivo evaluation in rats reveals that the chitosan-hyaluronic acid/NLC4 sponge enhances the wound healing with no scar and improved tissue quality. These results strongly support the possibility of using this novel chitosan-hyaluronic acid/NLC4 sponge for wound care application.