Controlled Release of Ceftriaxone from Poly(caprolactone)/Poly(lactic acid)/Poly(vinyl alcohol)/Zinc Oxide Composite Dressings for Antibacterial Applications

The skin is the first and most important protective layer of the human body against all kinds of injuries. Electrospun wound dressings have advantages such as; they have permeability, lightness, acceleration of wound healing and easy replacement. In this research, electrospun wound dressing based on poly (caprolactone)/ poly (lactic acid) (PCL-PLA) alloy hybridized with poly (vinyl alcohol) containing zinc oxide nanoparticles and ceftriaxone drug (PVA-ZnO-Cef) for Antibacterial dressing was produced. First, different proportions of the combination of PCL-PLA polymers were prepared and optimized at 75/25 ratio. In order to create hydrophilic properties, PVA was spun with water in different weight/volume percentages (10, 12 and 14%) and ZnO was added in different percentages (0, 1, 2 and 3%). The optimal concentration of PVA and nanoparticles was determined to be 10% and 3%, respectively 15% by weight of Cef drug was added to the final PCL-PLA/PVA-ZnO hybrid substrate. The addition of 25% PLA to the PCL matrix led to an increase in the elongation to the breaking point of the wound dressings by 500%. The addition of PVA to PCL-PLA alloy led to a decrease in the water drop contact angle from 111 to 18 degrees. The rate of drug release was Fickian or time-dependent release based on the Korsmeyer-Peppas model with power n=0.38 and coefficient of conformity R2=0.9543. Biological tests also confirmed the non-toxicity of the produced dressings, especially those containing ZnO nanoparticles and Cef. The antibacterial test showed that the wound dressings without drugs and nanoparticles did not have any resistance against bacteria, and with the addition of ZnO nanoparticles, a slight antibacterial aura is observed, but after adding the drug to the wound, Posh, the non-growth halo of the sample against gram-positive bacteria has increased about 2 times. Therefore, it can be concluded that PCL-PLA/PVA-ZnO-Cef substrates can be used as active wound dressings.