Physical and Antibacterial Properties of Peppermint Essential Oil Loaded Poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL) Electrospun Fiber Mats for Wound Healing

Abstract

The aim of this study was to fabricate and characterize various concentrations of peppermint essential oil (PEP) loaded on poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) electrospun fiber mats for healing applications, where PEP was intended to impart antibacterial activity to the fibers. SEM images illustrated that the morphology of all electrospun fiber mats was smooth, uniform, and bead-free. The average fiber diameter was reduced by the addition of PEP from 1.6 ± 0.1 to 1.0 ± 0.2 µm. Functional groups of the fibers were determined by Raman spectroscopy. Gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) analysis demonstrated the actual PEP content in the samples. In vitro degradation was determined by measuring weight loss and their morphology change, showing that the electrospun fibers slightly degraded by the addition of PEP. The wettability of PCL and PEP loaded electrospun fiber mats was measured by determining contact angle and it was shown that wettability increased with the incorporation of PEP. The antimicrobial activity results revealed that PEP loaded PCL electrospun fiber mats exhibited inhibition against Staphylococcus aureus (gram-positive) and Escherichia coli (gram-negative) bacteria. In addition, an in-vitro cell viability assay using normal human dermal fibroblast (NHDF) cells revealed improved cell viability on PCL, PCLPEP1.5, PCLPEP3, and PCLGEL6 electrospun fiber mats compared to the control (CNT) after 48 h cell culture. Our findings showed for the first time PEP loaded PCL electrospun fiber mats with antibiotic-free antibacterial activity as promising candidates for wound healing applications.

A Novel Bilayer Wound Dressing Composed of a Dense Polyurethane/Propolis Membrane and a Biodegradable Polycaprolactone/Gelatin Nanofibrous Scaffold

“…This hydrophilicity can be attributed to the multiple hydrophilic functional groups of Gel 58 . Other studies have reported higher hydrophilicity of the electrospun PCL/Gel scaffold (contact angles: ranged ~40-60°) in comparsion with PCL which is moderately hydrophobic (contact angle: ranged ~90-130°) [59][60][61][62] . At the study of a PCL/Gel based nanofibers wound dressing by Ajmal et al, the PCL contact angel was reported 100.1 ± 3.1° which decreased to 55.5 ± 2.1° after gelatin incorporation at PCL/Gel scaffold.…”

Electrospinning of Essential Oils

“…One aspect to consider, however, is the possible alteration of the EO chemical composition during fibre formation because of evaporation. For example, chemical analyses have recorded the disappearance of some characteristic bands of peppermint EO when encapsulated in PCL fibres [49], but not in gelatin [50] and cellulose acetate [44] fibres. Similarly, the main components of Manuka EO are retained in electrospun PLA fibres, but this is not the case for tea tree EO in PLA fibres, possibly due to the different evaporation rates of the constituents of the two oils [68].…”

“…So far a wide variety of essential oils have been electrospun, including cinnamon [39][40][41][42][43][44], oregano [45][46][47][48], peppermint [44,[49][50][51][52], clove [41,[53][54][55][56][57], thyme [58][59][60][61], lavender [62][63][64], eucalyptus [65], ginger [66], tea tree [67,68], Manuka [68], black pepper [69], and sage [69]. This review focuses on works that report the addition of EOs to polymeric solutions before conducting the electrospinning process.…”

“…Peppermint EO has been electrospun from PCL [49], cellulose acetate [44], gelatine [50], polyurethane [51], and PEO [52] matrices, and in combination with other bioactive compounds, such as chamomile EO [50], copper sulphate [51], and cerium oxide [52]. Gelatine fibres with an average diameter of ~500 nm were electrospun from acetic acid/water solutions containing 0%, 3%, 6%, and 9% v/v of peppermint EO and 1:1 blends of peppermint and chamomile EOs [50].…”

Insights into Theranostic Properties of Titanium Dioxide for Nanomedicine

“…Nevertheless, either bone and wound infections or dental abscesses are highly likely because of possible contamination of implants and systemic diseases; infections can be minimized by the physical adsorption of anti-inflammatory drugs or silver nanoparticles onto TiO 2 NSs [140,215]. Moreover, it has been proved that antimicrobial activity of TiO 2 nanomaterials eliminates infections and accelerates the proliferation of cells in the wound area compared to other materials [216][217][218][219]. For example, a mat composed of silk fibroin nanofibrous and TiO 2 nanoparticles has been developed not only to improve the adhesion and proliferation of fibroblasts, but also trigger an antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli under UV light irradiation [40].…”