Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, "Grigore T. Popa" University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Iași, 16 University Street, Iasi, Romania.
Smart Polymeric Biomaterials, Surface and Interface Engineered Materials, Campus Group T, KU Leuven, Andreas Vesaliusstraat 13, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
Int J Biol Macromol. 2021 Dec 15;193(Pt A):996-1008. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2021.10.166. Epub 2021 Oct 29.
Chitosan-based nanofibers (CS-NFs) are excellent artificial extracellular matrices (ECMs) due to the resemblance of CS with the glycosaminoglycans of the natural ECMs. Despite this excellent feature, the poor electrospinnability and mechanical properties of CS are responsible for important limitations in respect to its biomedical applications. To improve the CS's physico-chemical properties, new bioactive and biomimetic CS-NFs were formulated with polyethylene oxide (PEO), having incorporated different active components (ACs) with important beneficial effects for healing. Manuka honey (trophic and antimicrobial effects), propolis (antimicrobial effects), Calendula officinalis infusion (antioxidant effect, reepithelialization stimulating agent), insulin (trophic effect), and L-arginine (angiogenic effect) were selected as ACs. SEM morphology analysis revealed well-alignment, unidirectional arrays, with small diameters, no beads, and smooth surfaces for developed CS_PEO-ACs NFs. The developed NFs showed good biodegradability (NFs mats lost up to 60% of their initial weight in PBS), increased hemocompatibility (hemolytic index less than 4%), and a reduced cytotoxicity degree (cell viability degree more than 90%). In addition, significant antioxidant and antimicrobial effects were noted for the developed NFs which make them suitable for chronic wounds, due to the role of oxidative stress and infection risk in delaying normal wound healing. The most suitable for wound healing applications seems to be CS_PEO@P_C which showed an improved hemolysis index (2.92 ± 0.16%), is non-toxic (cell viability degree more than 97%), and has also significant radical scavenging effect (DPPH inhibition more than 65%). In addition, CS_PEO@P_C presents increased antimicrobial effects, more noticeably for Staphylococcus aureus strain, which is a key feature in preventing wound infection and delaying the healing process. It can be concluded that the developed CS/PEO-ACs NFs are very promising biomaterials for wound care, especially CS_PEO@P_C.
壳聚糖基纳米纤维（CS-NFs）是极好的人工细胞外基质（ECMs），因为 CS 与天然 ECM 的糖胺聚糖相似。尽管具有这一极好的特性，但 CS 较差的可纺性和机械性能限制了其在生物医学中的应用。为了改善 CS 的物理化学性质，用聚乙烯氧化物（PEO）制备了新的具有生物活性和仿生功能的 CS-NFs，并加入了不同的具有重要有益治疗效果的活性成分（ACs）。麦卢卡蜂蜜（营养和抗菌作用）、蜂胶（抗菌作用）、金盏花浸液（抗氧化作用、促进再上皮化剂）、胰岛素（营养作用）和 L-精氨酸（血管生成作用）被选为 ACs。SEM 形态分析表明，开发的 CS_PEO-ACs NF 具有良好的取向性、单向排列、较小的直径、无珠粒和光滑的表面。所开发的 NF 具有良好的生物降解性（在 PBS 中 NF 垫的重量损失高达 60%）、提高的血液相容性（溶血指数小于 4%）和降低的细胞毒性程度（细胞活力程度大于 90%）。此外，还注意到所开发的 NF 具有显著的抗氧化和抗菌作用，这使它们适合慢性伤口，因为氧化应激和感染风险在延迟正常伤口愈合中起作用。最适合伤口愈合应用的似乎是 CS_PEO@P_C，它显示出改善的溶血指数（2.92±0.16%）、非毒性（细胞活力程度大于 97%），并且还具有显著的自由基清除作用（DPPH 抑制率大于 65%）。此外，CS_PEO@P_C 具有增强的抗菌作用，对金黄色葡萄球菌菌株更为明显，这是防止伤口感染和延迟愈合过程的关键特征。可以得出结论，开发的 CS/PEO-ACs NF 是非常有前途的伤口护理生物材料，特别是 CS_PEO@P_C。
