Generating Antibacterial Microporous Structures Using Microfluidic Processing

The aim of this study is to investigate the potential of microfluidic techniques to generate microporous structures, with potential utility as scaffolds, with a highly uniform architecture, possessing an antibacterial activity. Scaffolds were prepared by introducing N2 gas to gelatin (GE)-water or gelatin/hyaluronic acid (GE/HA)-water mixtures to form microbubbles at the interface. The effect of solution temperature on microbubble stability and their structural integrity were studied. A solution temperature of 40 °C produced the best results due to the higher solution viscosity. The effect of different cross-linking concentrations on scaffold swelling ratio was investigated. A concentration of 5% glutaraldehyde was found to be optimal and was chosen to cross-link structure and conduct subsequent degradation and antibacterial experiments. HA was incorporated into the scaffolds owing to its ability to make stable and highly absorbent scaffolds. This led to a decrease in the degradation rate and the introduction of an antibacterial effect. This effect could be further enhanced with the inclusion of lactoferrin. This work is the first reported attempt for making antibacterial GE/HA scaffolds by using microfluidics

Accelerated diabetic wound healing by topical application of combination oral antidiabetic agents-loaded nanofibrous scaffolds: An in vitro and in vivo evaluation study

The combination of oral antidiabetic drugs, pioglitazone, metformin, and glibenclamide, which also exhibit the strongest anti-inflammatory action among oral antidiabetic drugs, were loaded into chitosan/gelatin/polycaprolactone (PCL) by electrospinning and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP)/PCL composite nanofibrous scaffolds by pressurized gyration to compare the diabetic wound healing effect. The combination therapies significantly accelerated diabetic wound healing in type-1 diabetic rats and organized densely packed collagen fibers in the dermis, it also showed better regeneration of the dermis and epidermis than single drug-loaded scaffolds with less inflammatory cell infiltration and edema. The formation of the hair follicles started in 14 days only in the combination therapy and lower proinflammatory cytokine levels were observed compared to single drug-loaded treatment groups. The combination therapy increased the wettability and hydrophilicity of scaffolds, demonstrated sustained drug release over 14 days, has high tensile strength and suitable cytocompatibility on L929 (mouse fibroblast) cell and created a suitable area for the proliferation of fibroblast cells. Consequently, the application of metformin and pioglitazone-loaded chitosan/gelatin/PCL nanofibrous scaffolds to a diabetic wound area offer high bioavailability, fewer systemic side effects, and reduced frequency of dosage and amount of drug