Abstract:
OBJECTIVE To prepare the chitosan/silk sericin hydrogel loaded with quercetin nanoparticles(QuNPs-CS-gel) as a wound dressing and evaluate its quality and ability of promoting wound healing.
METHODS Quercetin nanoparticles(QuNPs) responsive to reactive oxygen species were prepared by single emulsification solvent evaporation method. The formulation process was optimized using particle size, polydispersity index(PDI), encapsulation efficiency and so on. Chitosan and silk sericin were used as substrate material, and Genipin was used as crosslinking agent to prepare hydrogel(CS-gel). QuNPs-CS-gel was obtained by coating drug-loaded nanoparticles on the hydrogel. The best proportion of hydrogel was selected by water vapor transmission rate、water retention rate and so on. The structures and morphologies of the nanoparticles and hydrogels were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR), transmission electron microscope(TEM) and scanning electron microscopy(SEM). Biohistocompatibility was evaluated by blood compatibility and cell compatibility tests. The antibacterial and wound healing effects of hydrogels were evaluated by colony counting and animal experiments.
RESULTS For QuNPs, the mean particle size of QuNPs was(160.60±0.20)nm, PDI was(0.072±0.059), encapsulation rate was(97.12±0.15)%, drug loading rate was(7.53±0.02)%, and drug release rate achieved 80% at the 10 h. The comprehensive properties of CS-gel were as follows: 2% chitosan 2 mL, 2% sericin 1 mL, 0.5% Genipine 1.50 mg. TEM and SEM results showed that the shape of QuNPs was regular spherical with good dispersion. QuNPs-CS-gel has a loose and porous network structure. Blood compatibility results showed that the hemolysis rates of the experimental groups were all <5%, indicating that QuNPs, CS-gel and QuNPs-CS-gel had low destruction rates of red blood cells and good blood compatibility. The cell compatibility results showed that the cell survival rates of the experimental groups were >95%, and no difference between the control group and the experimental group. At 72 h, the cells remained active with almost no dead cells, indicating that QuNPs, CS-gel and QuNPs-CS-gel had excellent cell compatibility. The results of antibacterial activity showed that the antibacterial activity of CS-gel and QuNPs-CS-gel was close to 100%, while the antibacterial activity of QuNPs could reach >20%, indicating that both hydrogels had good antibacterial activity. The results of animal experiments showed that the wound of QuNPs-CS-gel group was close to complete healing on the 14 day, while the healing rate of the control group was only(65.92±1.28)%, indicating that hydrogel had a better effect on promoting healing.
CONCLUSION QuNPs-CS-gel has good properties of characterization, biocompatibility, antibacterial and wound healing, and is expected to be an ideal wound dressing.