Chitosan: A Potential Therapeutic Dressing Material for Wound Healing

Efficacy and safety of chitosan-based bio-compatible dressing versus Nano-silver (Acticoat) dressing in treatment of recalcitrant diabetic wounds: A randomized clinical trial

BACKGROUND

Chitosan has a biocompatible, biodegradable, and nontoxic nature. The effectiveness of Nano-chitosan films in the field of wound healing has been confirmed previously.

AIMS

To compare the clinical efficacy and safety of two dressings (chitosan and Nano-silver dressings) in the treatment of refractory diabetic wounds.

METHODS

A total of 25 eligible patients with chronic diabetic wound were included and randomly assigned to receive chitosan (13 patients) or nanosilver (12 cases) dressing. The dressings were applied on the wounds based on their protocols and patients were visited and examined by an experienced dermatologist every week. The clinical assessments and healing rates were recorded using diabetic-foot-infection (DFI) score at the 2^nd , 4^th ,and6^th weeks during treatment. The study endpoint, safety and tolerability profile were also documented.

RESULTS

The patterns of change in total 10-item-DFI wound scores didn't differ significantly over time between the two groups. In both groups, the total 10-item-DFI wound score reduced continuously through the course of study. The mean percentage reduction of this score from baseline was 78.1% and 74.1% in the chitosan and nanosilver dressing groups, respectively. Both dressings were well tolerated and there were no adverse events.

LIMITATIONS

The relatively small sample size in both groups was the main limitation of the study.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings confirmed that chitosan may be safely and effectively used for the treatment of diabetic wounds just like the nanosilver (acticoat) dressing. Further studies are recommended with more volunteers and a longer follow up period. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Fabrication of Biohybrid Cellulose Acetate-Collagen Bilayer Matrices as Nanofibrous Spongy Dressing Material for Wound-Healing Application

Tissue engineering is currently one the fastest growing engineering fields, requiring fabrication of advanced and multifunctional materials to be used as scaffolds or dressing for tissue regeneration. In this work, a bilayer matrix was fabricated by electrospinning of a hybrid cellulose acetate nanofibers (CA) containing bioactive latex or Ciprofloxacin over highly interconnected collagen (CSPG) 3D matrix previously obtained by a freeze-drying process. The bilayer matrix was fabricated with a nanofibrous part as the primary (top) layer and a spongy porous part as the secondary (bottom) layer by combining electrospinning and freeze-drying techniques to enhance the synergistic effect of both materials corresponding to physical and biological properties. The final material was physicochemically characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The bilayer matrix exhibited nanofibrous and 3D porous structure with properties such as high porosity, swelling, and stability required for soft-tissue-engineering applications. Furthermore, the in vitro biological and fluorescence properties of the matrix were tested against NIH 3T3 fibroblast and human keratinocyte (HaCaT) cell lines and showed good cell adhesion and proliferation over the bilayer matrix. Thus, the synergistic combination of nanofibrous material deposition onto to the collagenous porous material has proved efficient in the fabrication of a bilayer matrix for skin-tissue-engineering applications.

Synthesis and characterization of chitosan-PVP-nanocellulose composites for in-vitro wound dressing application

Biocompatible Chitosan/Poly (vinyl pyrrolidone)/Nanocellulose (CPN) composites were successfully prepared by solution casting method. The prepared bionanocomposites were characterized by Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) spectra. TEM images revealed the average particle size of the nanocellulose is 6.1nm. Thermogravimetric analysis indicated that the thermal stability of the composites was decreased with increasing concentration of nanocellulose. The CPN composites were characterized for physical properties like Thickness, Barrier properties and mechanical testing. Water vapor and oxygen permeability evaluations indicated that CPN composite could maintain a moist environment over wound bed. The nanocomposite showed enhanced swelling, blood compatibility and antibacterial activity. Cytotoxicity of the composite has been analyzed in normal mouse embryonic fibroblast cells. The results have shown the CPN3% composite shows a high level of antibacterial property when compared to the other composites. The biological study suggests that CPN3% composite may be a potential candidate as a wound healing material for biomedical application.