Preparation and characterization of ampicillin-incorporated electrospun polyurethane scaffolds for wound healing and infection control

Abstract

Electrospinning is a desired method to produce interconnected flexible nanofibrous structures suitable for tissue engineering, drug delivery, and wound healing. Ampicillinloaded polyurethane (PU) nanofiber mats were electrospun with the antibiotic dispersed in well-oriented nanofibers. The identification of functional groups, molecular interactions and surface morphology of the fibers were analyzed using Infrared, Raman, 1 H NMR, SEM, and TEM. Weak interactions exist between the functional groups of ampicillin and PU in electrospun fibers at ratios 1:10, 1.5:10, and 2:10. The effect of b-lactam antibiotic ampicillin on the characteristics of electrospun PU was studied using XRD, TGA, and DSC. Their antibacterial property is proved by good zone of inhibition against Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumonia. Cytotoxicity tests on the electrospun scaffolds were performed with normal human keratinocyte cells (HaCaT cells). Results indicate that ampicillin-incorporated PU scaffolds are well suited for applications in wound healing and infection control.POLYM. ENG. SCI., 00:000-000, 2014.

A review on electrospun polymer nanostructures as advanced bioactive platforms

“…Additionally, cytotoxicity tests carried out for some of these electrospun scaffolds indicated that cells could adhere and proliferate on electrospun mats with relatively high amounts of these antibiotics. For instance, ampicillin‐loaded PU nanofibers did not affect the growth of normal human keratinocyte cells (HaCaT cells) in the study of Sabitha and Rajiv . Similarly, PCL‐based membranes with 30 wt% loadings of metronidazole were not cytotoxic, as showed by Xue et al .…”

“…Examples of these other antibiotic‐loaded electrospun matrices are, among others, rifampin , ornidazole , cefoxitin sodium (Mefoxin) , and chlorhexidine . Some other studies have also showed the potential of ampicillin and metronidazole using electrospinning. Such formulations have showed a broad antibacterial activity and proved to be very effective for long periods.…”

Electrospun nanofibrous materials for wound healing applications

“…Similarly, ampicillin-loaded PU (A-PU) nanofibers were electrospun and have shown to maintain good viability in human keratinocyte (HaCaT) cells and exhibit good antibacterial activity against Gram-positive S. aureus and Gram-negative K. pneumonia. The overall outcome suggests that A-PU scaffolds can be used in wound healing and infection control applications [51]. Likewise, incorporation of AgNPs in PU nanofibers were also reported to show enhanced performances and suggesting for their use in wound healing applications [52,53].…”

The mechanism of the controlled deposition of electrospun fibers

“…For example, this technology can be used to cover wounds, [ 18 ] make clothes, [ 19 ] and even deposit fibers to form three‐dimensional products. [ 20,21 ] The implementation of the above applications requires improving the existing processes so that as much as possible fibers can be collected in the designated areas or even at the designated points. However, the controlled deposition of electrospun fibers faces some challenges at the technical level.…”