Synergistic Effect of Co-Delivering Ciprofloxacin and Tetracycline Hydrochloride for Promoted Wound Healing by Utilizing Coaxial PCL/Gelatin Nanofiber Membrane

Abstract

Combining multiple drugs or biologically active substances for wound healing could not only resist the formation of multidrug resistant pathogens, but also achieve better therapeutic effects. Herein, the hydrophobic fluoroquinolone antibiotic ciprofloxacin (CIP) and the hydrophilic broad-spectrum antibiotic tetracycline hydrochloride (TH) were introduced into the coaxial polycaprolactone/gelatin (PCL/GEL) nanofiber mat with CIP loaded into the PCL (core layer) and TH loaded into the GEL (shell layer), developing antibacterial wound dressing with the co-delivering of the two antibiotics (PCL-CIP/GEL-TH). The nanostructure, physical properties, drug release, antibacterial property, and in vitro cytotoxicity were investigated accordingly. The results revealed that the CIP shows a long-lasting release of five days, reaching the releasing rate of 80.71%, while the cumulative drug release of TH reached 83.51% with a rapid release behavior of 12 h. The in vitro antibacterial activity demonstrated that the coaxial nanofiber mesh possesses strong antibacterial activity against E. coli and S. aureus. In addition, the coaxial mats showed superior biocompatibility toward human skin fibroblast cells (hSFCs). This study indicates that the developed PCL-CIP/GEL-TH nanofiber membranes hold enormous potential as wound dressing materials.

A Refined Hot Melt Printing Technique with Real-Time CT Imaging Capability

“…The presence of micropores may function as stress and strain concentrators, which result in the sample to fail and therefore to have a weaker ultimate tensile strength at a higher TH concentration. Similar to existing studies by Wang et al and Lin et al, Figure 5 b also presented PCL as having the greatest tensile strain in comparison to samples containing TH due to poor interfacial interactions and unstable phase dispersion in composite materials [ 35 , 45 ].…”

PCL/Gelatin/Graphene Oxide Electrospun Nanofibers: Effect of Surface Functionalization on In Vitro and Antibacterial Response

“…The tensile properties of the functionalized PGO nanofibers were measured to determine their durability and elasticity. A tensile stress–strain curve of the functionalized nanofibers was obtained, and the tensile strength, strain break, as well as Young’s modulus, were calculated from the curve [ 135 , 136 ]. Figure 8 shows the elastic deformation of the functionalized nanofibers.…”

Tuning the Drug Release from Antibacterial Polycaprolactone/Rifampicin-Based Core–Shell Electrospun Membranes: A Proof of Concept

“…Coaxial electrospinning is emerging as a new electrospinning technique, particularly useful in drug inclusion and local delivery of bioactive agents, while actively stimulating tissue regeneration. , Indeed, coaxial membranes are characterized by the fibrous structure mimicking the extracellular matrix (ECM) architecture, and their core–shell structure allows the differential incorporation of drugs and bioactive moieties inside the fiber or distribution on its surface, with possible dual drug-release profiles. − In this context, the work presented here aims at the exploitation of poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL)-based coaxial fibers as antibacterial drug delivery systems, by alternatively incorporating an antibiotic, namely, rifampicin (Rif), in the core or the shell layer. PCL was chosen for its biocompatibility, bioresorbability, mechanical properties, and versatility, since it is applied for the most varied regenerative purposes, such as bone and cartilage regeneration, wound healing, or nerve regeneration. − Due to its hydrophobic behavior, PCL-based membranes need to be modified or treated to increase their hydrophilicity. − Among the different techniques, air-plasma treatment revealed to be an effective strategy for activating the PCL mat surface, since it introduces polar groups on the biomaterial surface, increasing its hydrophilicity. ,, On the other hand, rifampicin should be particularly useful as a broad-spectrum antibiotic able to penetrate biofilms, being active even against stationary phase bacteria. − …”