ELECTROSPUN pH-RESPONSIVE NANOFIBROUS WOUND DRESSINGS

MEUTER, MAXIMILIAN; RIVERO GUADALUPE; BOCACCINI, ALDO; ABRAHAM, GUSTAVO A.

Simposio; XII Simposio Argentino de Polimeros; 2017

Electrospinning continues attracting the interest in many industrial and technological fields. Drug delivery systems based on electrospun nanofibrous structures are among the most challenging applications addressed by the pharmaceutical and biomaterials sciences. Thus, electrospinning allows the incorporation of bioactive agents in fibrous structures. Dispersion or encapsulation of drugs in polymeric porous structures allows the design of a wide variety of delivery systems [1]. Structure and size of fibers as well as electrospinnability strongly depend on solution properties, processing parameters and ambient conditions. This work aims the design of pH-sensitive wound dressings for superficial chronic wounds, injuries and skin infections by solvent-based electrospinning of Eudragit S100 (ES100), a pH-responsive biodegradable polymer. Precise pH changes are known to take place in chronic wounds because of the disorders in the physical balance between tissue reformation and degradation during inflammatory phase [2]., Thus, the pH-dependent dissolution of ES100 above pH=7 could allow a triggered and targeted release of the bioactive agents incorporated in these nanofibrous scaffold.. Site specific pH-sensitive drug delivery carriers were prepared by using single nozzle electrospinning technique. Nitrofurazone, a topical anti-infective agent effective against gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria, was incorporated. Suitable solvents or mixture of solvents for dissolving ES100 were selected and different nitrofurazone concentrations in the polymer solution were explored. Fiber morphology was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and significant differences were detected when varying the solvents in the original polymer solutions. The assessment of nitrofurazone release profiles in different pH media, measured by UV spectroscopy, provides very interesting information to evaluate the potential of these materials as drug delivery systems.