Enhanced Antibacterial Effects of Chitosan/polyethylene oxide nanofibrous hydrogels loaded with Henna and Thyme extract: Potential Applications as Wound Dressing
Enhanced Antibacterial Effects of Chitosan/polyethylene oxide nanofibrous hydrogels loaded with Henna and Thyme extract: Potential Applications as Wound Dressing
Mahboubeh Kabiri,1,*Zahra Kharat,2
1. Department of Biotechnology (straight Ph.D), College of Science, University of Tehran 2. Department of Biotechnology (straight Ph.D), College of Science, University of Tehran;
Introduction: Wound healing is known as a complex pathophysiological process, necessitating deep caring strategies while preventing infection. Most cases of wounding often suffer from a high risk of bacterial and fungal infection, due to the disruption of the skin structure as the outermost defense barrier of the body. As such as appropriate wound dress would be necessary to prevent or diminish infection risk, as well as acceleration of wound healing. In Chinese and ancient medicine, plenty of herbal plants have been introduced having profound wound healing effects. Inclusion of such herbal extracts in wound dresses can show dual role in augmenting wound healing and preventing infection
Methods: In the present study we added Henna and Thyme extracts into nanofibrous hydrogels made from chitosan and polyethylene oxide. Two-nozzle electrospinning was invoked to fabricate composite nanofibers containing alcohol extract of Henna and Thyme. The weight ratio of polymers along with the concentration of herbal extracts were optimized. After achieving a uniform nanafiber sheet, the antibacterial activity of the control polymers (CS/PEO), the extracts and extract loaded dressings were assessed against both gram negative and gram positive bacteria. The dressings were morphologically characterized using SEM. Also hemo-compatibility and cyto-compatibility tests were done to affirm the suitability of the nanofibrous hydrogels in contact with blood and human tissues.
Results: We observed that the appropriate ratio of CS/PEO and the most suitable extract concentrations was obtained to be 7/3 (v/v) and 1% (v/v), respectively. Herbal extract loaded nanofibers exhibited a good inhibition zone against E. Coli and S. Aureous. The hemolysis test showed that the coatings had no adverse effect on red blood cells. Cytocompatibility assay indicated that the prepared nanofibrous hydrogel was absolutely biocompatible as tested with fibroblast cells.
Conclusion: Overall, the results of our study showed that our Henna and Thyme extracts loaded CS/PEO nanofibrous dressings can safely be used in various medical fields such as wound dressing and implantation coating to prevent bacterial adhesion, growth and generally, infection.