School of Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK.
Department of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK.
Sci Rep. 2024 Sep 5;14(1):20715. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-71466-4.
Chronic wounds represent a significant global health concern, statistically impacting 1-2% of the population in developed countries throughout their lifetimes. These wounds cause considerable discomfort for patients and necessitate substantial expenditures of time and resources for treatment. Among the emerging therapeutic approaches, medicated dressings incorporating bioactive molecules, including natural compounds, are particularly promising. Hence, the objective of this study was to develop novel antimicrobial dressings for wound treatment. Specifically, polycaprolactone membranes were manufactured using the electrospinning technique and subsequently coated with natural polyelectrolytes (chitosan as a polycation and a mixture of manuka honey with essential oils nanoemulsions as a polyanion) employing the Layer-by-Layer assembly technique. Physico-chemical and morphological characterization was conducted through QCM-D, FTIR-ATR, XPS, and SEM analyses. The results from SEM and QCM-D demonstrated successful layer deposition and coating formation. Furthermore, FTIR-ATR and XPS analyses distinguished among different coating compositions. The coated membranes were tested in the presence of fibroblast cells, demonstrating biocompatibility and expression of genes coding for VEGF, COL1, and TGF-β1, which are associated with the healing process (assessed through RT-qPCR analysis). Finally, the membranes exhibited excellent antibacterial activity against both Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, with higher bacterial strain inhibition observed when cinnamon essential oil nanoemulsion was incorporated. Taken together, these results demonstrate the potential application of nanocoated membranes for biomedical applications, such as wound healing.
慢性创面是一个全球性的健康问题，在发达国家，统计数据表明，有 1-2%的人口在其一生中会受到影响。这些创面给患者带来了极大的不适，并且需要大量的时间和资源来进行治疗。在新兴的治疗方法中，含有生物活性分子的药物敷料，包括天然化合物，具有特别的应用前景。因此，本研究的目的是开发用于伤口治疗的新型抗菌敷料。具体而言，采用静电纺丝技术制造聚己内酯膜，然后使用层层组装技术用天然聚电解质（壳聚糖作为聚阳离子和麦卢卡蜂蜜与精油纳米乳液的混合物作为聚阴离子）对其进行涂层。通过 QCM-D、FTIR-ATR、XPS 和 SEM 分析对其进行物理化学和形态学表征。SEM 和 QCM-D 的结果表明成功进行了层沉积和涂层形成。此外，FTIR-ATR 和 XPS 分析可区分不同的涂层成分。在存在成纤维细胞的情况下对涂层膜进行测试，结果表明其具有生物相容性，并表达了与愈合过程相关的 VEGF、COL1 和 TGF-β1 的基因编码（通过 RT-qPCR 分析进行评估）。最后，这些膜对金黄色葡萄球菌和铜绿假单胞菌均表现出优异的抗菌活性，当肉桂精油纳米乳液被掺入时，对两种细菌菌株的抑制作用更高。综上所述，这些结果表明纳米涂层膜在生物医学应用（如伤口愈合）方面具有应用潜力。
