Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease with a high mortality rate and many complications. A non-healing diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is one the most serious complications, leading to lower-extremity amputation in 15% of diabetic patients. Nanofibers are emerging as versatile wound dressing due to their unique wound healing properties, such as a high surface area to volume ratio, porosity, and ability to maintain a moist wound environment capable of delivering sustained drug release and oxygen supply to a wound. The present study was aimed to prepare and evaluate a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)–sodium alginate (SA)–silk fibroin (SF)-based multifunctional nanofibrous scaffold loaded with asiaticoside (AT) in diabetic rats. The SEM findings showed that fibers’ diameters ranged from 100–200 nm, and tensile strengths ranged from 12.41–16.80 MPa. The crosslinked nanofibers were sustained AT over an extended period. The MTT and scratch assay on HaCat cells confirmed low cytotoxicity and significant cell migration, respectively. Antimicrobial tests revealed an excellent anti-microbial efficacy against P. aeruginosa and S. aureus bacteria. In-vivo study demonstrated better wound healing efficacy in diabetic rats. In addition, the histopathological studies showed its ability to restore the normal structure of the skin. The present study concluded that developed multifunctional nanofibers have a great potential for diabetic wound healing applications.
Diabetic foot ulceration is the most distressing complication of diabetes having no standard therapy. Nanofibers are an emerging and versatile nanotechnology-based drug-delivery system with unique wound-healing properties. This study aimed to prepare and evaluate silk-sericin based hybrid nanofibrous mats for diabetic foot ulcer. The nanofibrous mats were prepared by electrospinning using silk sericin mixed with different proportions of polycaprolactone (PCL) and cellulose acetate (CA) loaded with ferulic acid (FA). The in vitro characterizations, such as surface morphology, mechanical properties, swelling behavior, biodegradability, scanning electron microscopy, and drug release were carried out. The SEM images indicated that nanofibers formed with varied diameters, ranging from 100 to 250 nm, and their tensile strength was found to range from 7 to 15 MPa. In vitro release demonstrated that the nanofibers sustained FA release over an extended time of period. In vitro cytotoxicity showed that the nanofibers possessed a lower cytotoxicity in HaCaT cells. The in vivo wound-healing studies demonstrated an excellent wound-healing efficiency of the nanofibers in diabetic rats. Furthermore, the histopathological studies showed the nanofibers’ ability to restore the skin’s normal structure. Therefore, it was concluded that the prepared silk-sericin-based hybrid nanofibers loaded with FA could be a promising drug-delivery platform for the effective treatment of diabetic foot ulcers.
Gram-positive bacteria cause various diseases from the superficial skin to deep tissue infections. The capability of causing numerous diseases is due to the production of virulence factors which are tightly regulated by the virulence genes. Various Gram-positive pathogenic bacteria e.g. Staphylococcus, Mycobacterium, and Listeria are capable of causing lethal infections in humans and animals. Conventional antibiotics, targeted antibiotics, and combinatorial drugs are used as therapeutic agents against Gram-positive pathogens. Due to intricate virulence pathway bacteria readily adopt resistance to available drugs. Therefore, there is need to develop some alternative approaches to combat these infections. Various natural extracts are effective against pathogenic bacteria with or without the available drugs. Curcumin is a natural extract of Curcuma longas rhizome, known as turmeric. Curcumin shows various biological activities such as antimicrobial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. It also shows strong antibacterial activity against Gram-positive and few Gram-negative bacteria. Besides all these beneficial applications, major drawbacks of curcumin are poor aqueous solubility and less bioavailability. However, drug delivery approaches including nanoformulation are developed to increase its stability in vitro and in vivo settings. The present review article focused on the translation of potential applications of curcumin in various diseases specifically caused by Gram-positive pathogens. Various methods used for the formulations of curcumin nanoparticles, combinatorial strategies with curcumin nanoparticles and their application in the prevention of infections have been discussed. The present article also discusses the future aspects of curcumin-nanoparticles and its use as an alternative therapeutic approach against pathogens.
The rate of discovery of new antibiotic is slower than the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains in the environment. This global problem is more acute in developing countries. Therefore, it is necessary to develop some alternative approaches to combat infections caused by pathogenic microorganisms and resistant strains. Natural antimicrobial peptides (NAMPs) are potent antimicrobial peptides that are isolated from different sources like plants, animals, humans, bacteria, and fungi. These antimicrobial peptides may have a ribosomal or non-ribosomal origin. Natural antimicrobial peptides have diverse functions in agriculture, pharmaceutical and food industries. NAMPs have been used as food preservatives against food-borne pathogens thereby increasing the shelf-life of food items. NAMPs are useful in the treatment of wounds, ulcers, skin and soft tissue infections caused by microorganisms. Different types of NAMPs are universal in nature and show broad-spectrum antimicrobial activities. NAMPs exhibit great potency against multidrug-resistant bacteria like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). They have unique characteristics of targeting multiple pathogenic strains and prevent the emergence of natural resistance. In this review article, we systematically discussed different types of natural antimicrobial peptides, their classification, expression, diversity and source. We also explored their mode of action, genetic regulation and application as an alternative therapeutic agent.
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