Development of a Novel Double-Layered Wound Dressing Composed of Chitosan Film and Tigecycline-Loaded Electrospun Polycaprolactone Nanofibers

Abstract

This study aims to create a functional and antibacterial double-layered wound dressing material, consisting of hydrophilic chitosan (CH) film fabricated through the solvent casting method chosen as the contact layer and hydrophobic tigecycline (Tig)-loaded poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) nanofibers produced using the electrospinning technique utilized as the top layer. The surface morphologies were investigated, showing that the CH film had a uniform morphology and the PCL-Tig nanofibers showed a smooth, randomly oriented, and beadless structure with an average diameter of 250 +/- 35 nm. The CH film layer was completely integrated into the PCL-Tig nanofiber layer with distinct boundaries. The surface roughness of PCL-Tig nanofibers was considerably higher than that of the CH film surface. The water contact angle measurements showed that the PCL-Tig nanofibers (129.2 degrees) had a more hydrophobic nature than the CH film at 77.6 degrees. The single-layered wound dressing exhibited a higher cumulative release of tigecycline (94%) within the first 90 min due to an initial burst release, whereas the double-layered wound dressing released 90% of the drug over a prolonged period of 360 min. When the antibacterial results were compared, the PCL-Tig nanofibers and double-layered material had the strongest inhibitory effect observed against S. aureus. The cytotoxicity of the wound dressing materials evaluated by the MTT assay confirmed that the viability of L929 cells was not significantly affected by the addition of tigecycline to the PCL matrix. In summary, the developed CH film/PCL-Tig nanofiber double-layered material shows great potential as an innovative alternative to conventional wound dressing materials.