Versatile Bioactive Glass/Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-8-Based Skin Scaffolds toward High-Performance Wound Healing

Designing a novel biomaterial for wound healing is based on biocompatibility and excellent mechanical strength. In this study, bioactive glass (BG) and zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) have been incorporated into poly(ε-caprolactone)/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PCL/PVA) composite skin scaffolds via microfluidic electrospinning. Interestingly, the addition of ZIF-8 further strengthens the BG stability and demonstrates better antibacterial effects. Utilizing the slow release of Zn, Ca, and Si ions, it also significantly promotes growth factor expression and skin regeneration. In addition, it is further demonstrated by in vitro and in vivo studies that the prepared composite skin scaffolds possess excellent biocompatibility, antibacterial capabilities, and mechanical properties. The prepared BG/ZIF-8-loaded scaffold possesses high tensile strength (26 MPa) and excellent antibacterial properties (achieves 89.64 and 78.8% inhibition of E. coli and S. aureus, respectively), and cell viability increased by 51.2%. More importantly, the wound shrinkage of the BG/ZIF-8-loaded scaffold is better than that of an unloaded scaffold, and the shrinkage rates of PCL/PVA@BG/ZIF-8(1 wt %) group is 95% with 2.2 mm granulation growth thickness within 12 days. Thus, the composite skin scaffold loaded with BG/ZIF-8 prepared by microfluidic electrospinning provides a new perspective for accelerating wound healing and is a potential novel therapeutic strategy for efficient wound healing

Demographic Characteristics of Participants in the Study, 2009–2011.

<p>Demographic Characteristics of Participants in the Study, 2009–2011.</p

Incidence of Active TB and Sputum Smear-Positive TB in the Study, 2009–2011.

<p>Abbreviation: CI, confidence interval.</p>a<p>Standardized by merged population distribution.</p>b<p>per 100,000 person-year.</p

Relative Risk of Exposed Factors Associated with TB in the Study, 2009–2011.

<p>Abbreviation: CI, confidence interval.</p>a<p>Adjusted for all the background factors: gender, age, marital status, occupation and educational level.</p

Incidence and Relative Risk Under Exposed/Unexposed Conditions in the Study, 2009–2011.

a<p>per 100,000 person-year.</p

The ACF graph and PACF graph of the ARIMA (0,1,0) × (0,1,0)₁₂ model.

<p>ACF=autocorrelation function, PACF=partial autocorrelation fuction. After taking a non-seasonal and seasonal difference, the TB report rate series shows dominant peaks in the autocorrelation functions lags 12, 24 and 36 months indicating a strong seasonal pattern in the report rate of TB in Hubei Province, China.</p

The selection of the spread of the GRNN-ARIMA model.

<p>ARIMA=the autoregressive integrated moving average; GRNN=the generalized regression neural network. The spread values between 0.5 and 1.5 with an interval of 0.05 were selected to find the minimum RMSE for the testing samples. When the spread was 0.95, the RMSE was lowest.</p

The ACF graph and PACF graph of the residuals for the ARIMA (2,1,0) × (0,1,1)₁₂ model.

<p>ACF=autocorrelation function, PACF=partial autocorrelation fuction. As their correlation values are not outside the confidence intervals (CI) limits, the residuals error is considered to be white noise indicating that this model is appropriate for prediction. </p

Proportion of tuberculosis cases by month of report.

<p>Month begins with January and is abbreviated by first letter. It shows that TB cases exhibit a peak in March and a trough in December across the entire study period.</p

Time series of tuberculosis report rate in Hubei Province, China between Jan 2004 and Dec 2011.

<p>Time series of tuberculosis report rate in Hubei Province, China between Jan 2004 and Dec 2011.</p