Researchers develop innovative solution for hard-to-heal wounds

Wounds that are hard to heal can pose significant difficulties. Prone to microbial infection, such wounds need a skin regeneration product for rapid healing. To solve the problem, prominent researchers in the field have developed “ciprofloxacin hydrochloride and quercetin encapsulated PLGA/Gelatin based electrospun nanofibers”.

The findings have been published in the journal Materials Today Communications. Among the co-authors are assistant professors Dr Narendra Yadav and Dr Gufran Ajmal from School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Apeejay Stya University.

A wound ranges from acute to chronic, depending on the time needed to heal, with the latter being susceptible to disease transmission along with the release of “excess reactive oxygen species”.

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“These days, wound management is a significant public health concern that has caused an immense social and economic impact worldwide… we proposed developing a polymer-based nanofiber membrane loaded with an antimicrobial and an antioxidant as skin regeneration product,” the paper mentions.

Electrospun nanofiber has many qualities. These include “high surface area and micro-porous structure that quickly initiate cell signalling and attract the fibroblast for ECM components secretion, (ii) mimicking the structural and functional resemblance of native ECM that encourage cell adhesion and its proliferation, (iii) protecting the wound from microbial infiltration and (iv) behaving as sustained release drug delivery device.”

Talking about the importance of the research, Dr Yadav said, “This research provides a promising avenue for tissue regeneration. The development of a PLGA/Gelatin-based electrospun nanofiber scaffold encapsulating antibacterial and antioxidant drug holds the potential for the regeneration of chronic wounds, bone regeneration, and cartilage repair.”

Elaborating on the significance of the product, Dr Ajmal adds, “The incorporation of bioactive molecules into electrospun nanofiber scaffolds offers a promising strategy for accelerating tissue regeneration, and the PLGA/Gelatin-based scaffold encapsulating antibacterial and antioxidant molecules represents a significant step forward in this field.”

The researchers are now working to further explore the biomedical application of electrospun nanofiber.