The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of chitosan-alginate membrane to accelerate wound healing in experimental cutaneous wounds. Two wounds were performed in Wistar rats by punching (1.5 cm diameter), treated with membranes moistened with saline solution (CAM group) or with saline only (SL group). After 2, 7, 14, and 21 days of surgery, five rats of each group were euthanized and reepithelialization was evaluated. The wounds/scars were harvested for histological, flow cytometry, neutrophil infiltrate, and hydroxyproline analysis. CAM group presented higher inflammatory cells recruitment as compared to SL group on 2(nd) day. On the 7(th) day, CAM group showed higher CD11b(+) level and lower of neutrophils than SL group. The CAM group presented higher CD4(+) cells influx than SL group on 2(nd) day, but it decreased during the follow up and became lower on 14(th) and 21(st) days. Higher fibroplasia was noticed on days 7 and 14 as well as higher collagenesis on 21(st) in the CAM group in comparison to SL group. CAM group showed faster reepithelialization on 7(th) day than SL group, although similar in other days. In conclusion, chitosan-alginate membrane modulated the inflammatory phase, stimulated fibroplasia and collagenesis, accelerating wound healing process in rats.
This work addresses the development and characterization of porous chitosan-alginate based polyelectrolyte complexes, obtained by using two different proportions of the biocompatible surfactant Pluronic F68. These biomaterials are proposed for applications as biodegradable and biocompatible wound dressing and/or scaffolds. The results indicate that thickness, roughness, porosity and liquid uptake of the membranes increase with the amount of surfactant used, while their mechanical properties and stability in aqueous media decrease. Other important properties such as color and surface hydrophilicity (water contact angle) are not significantly altered or did not present a clear tendency of variation with the increase of the amount of surfactant added to the polyelectrolyte complexes, such as real density, average pore diameter, total pore volume and surface area. The prepared biomaterials were not cytotoxic to L929 cells. In conclusion, it is possible to tune the physicochemical properties of chitosan-alginate polyelectrolyte complexes, through the variation of the proportion of surfactant (Pluronic F68) added to the mixture, so as to enable the desired application of these biomaterials.
This work reports for the encapsulation of L-asparaginase, an anticancer enzyme into hybrid PMPC25-PDPA70/ PEO16-PBO22 asymmetric polymersomes previously developed by our group, with loading capacities with over than 800 molecules per vesicle. Enzyme-loaded polymersomes show permeability and capacity to hydrolyze L-asparagine, which is essential to cancer cells. The nanoreactors proposed in this work can potentially be used in further studies to develop novel therapeutic alternatives based on L-asparaginase.
In this work, porous lamellar chitosan-alginate membranes were developed without the use of freeze-drying methods or other vacuum-based approaches. The effects of two different surfactants, Tween 80 and Pluronic F68, on the properties of the membranes were evaluated, aiming at the production of stable consistent foams with improved polysaccharide dispersion. The membranes prepared with Tween 80 had a tensile strength around 1.5 MPa, elongation at break of 2.1% and liquid uptake from 590 to 1370% in distinct solutions, increasing their thickness in up to 3.9 times when immersed in water. The membranes obtained with Pluronic F68 had a tensile strength of 1.0 MPa, elongation at break of 2.0% and liquid uptake from 774 to 1380%, showing an increase in thickness around 3.2 times after exposure to water. The antimicrobial properties of both membranes were also evaluated, showing that despite being porous, the membranes can provide some protection against bacterial permeation. Therefore, membranes produced with Tween 80 and Pluronic F68 were considered to have high potential for use in the production of wound dressings and scaffolds for tissue engineering.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.