The influence of operating parameters on the drug release and antibacterial performances of alginate fibrous dressings prepared by wet spinning

Fabrication and characterization of silver nanowire-coated porous alginate wet-laid webs for wound dressing applications

Wound care presents an imposed financial burden for healthcare organizations, prompting the need for novel and cost-efficient dressings. In this study, we address this challenge by introducing a novel approach to fabricate antibacterial alginate-based fibrous materials using a combination of wet spinning and the wet-laying method, which offer advantages including structural and functional properties such as breathability, nontoxicity, biocompatibility, and cost-effectiveness. The wet spinning method was employed to develop porous and non-porous Ca-alginate fibers with diameters of 100 ± 4.3 nm and 132 ± 1.2 nm, respectively. Porous Ca-alginate fibers were fabricated with the utilization of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as a pore-forming polymer. Obtained fibers were cut into 1-2 cm lengths to fabricate wet-laid webs. Finally, silver nanowires (AgNWs) were synthesized and then coated on the wet-laid webs at concentrations of 1 % and 3 % to impart antibacterial properties. FTIR analyses confirmed the successful removal of PVA, and swelling tests demonstrated that both porous and non-porous samples exhibit high swelling ability. The porous wet-laid materials swelled 12 times their initial weight, while this amount was 5 times their initial weight in non-porous wet-laid materials at a 60-min timepiece. SEM analysis verified fiber integrity, and MTT assays showed excellent cytocompatibility. Additionally, in vitro tests highlighted the scaffold's potential to support cell attachment and proliferation. The results demonstrate that wet-laid alginate-based fibrous dressings have low cytotoxicity, superior swelling capacity, antibacterial activity, and biocompatibility. This study underscores the potential of the silver nanowires-coated wet-laid webs as a novel and effective approach for producing multifunctional wound care materials.

Diverse Approaches in Wet-Spun Alginate Filament Production from the Textile Industry Perspective: From Process Optimization to Composite Filament Production

Alginate, categorized as a natural-based biodegradable polymer, stands out for its inherently exclusive properties. Although this unique polymer is widely processed using film, coating, and membrane technologies for different usage areas, textile applications are still limited. This study aims to compile promising approaches that will pave the way for the use of wet-spun alginate filaments in textile applications. In this regard, this study provides information about the molecular structure of alginate, the gel formation mechanism, and cross-linking using different techniques. Our literature review categorizes parameters affecting the mechanical properties of wet-spun alginate filaments, such as the effect of ion source and spinning dope concentration, needle diameter, temperature, and coagulants. Following this, a detailed and comprehensive literature review of the various approaches, such as use of additives, preparation of blended filaments, and grafted nanocrystal addition, developed by researchers to produce composite alginate filaments is presented. Additionally, studies concerning the use of different cations in the coagulation phase are reported. Moreover, studies about the functionalism of wet-spun alginate filaments have been offered.

Drug eluting protein and polysaccharides-based biofunctionalized fabric textiles- pioneering a new frontier in tissue engineering: An extensive review

In the ever-evolving landscape of tissue engineering, medicated biotextiles have emerged as a game-changer. These remarkable textiles have garnered significant attention for their ability to craft tissue scaffolds that closely mimic the properties of natural tissues. This comprehensive review delves into the realm of medicated protein and polysaccharide-based biotextiles, exploring a diverse array of fabric materials. We unravel the intricate web of fabrication methods, ranging from weft/warp knitting to plain/stain weaving and braiding, each lending its unique touch to the world of biotextiles creation. Fibre production techniques, such as melt spinning, wet/gel spinning, and multicomponent spinning, are demystified to shed light on the magic behind these ground-breaking textiles. The biotextiles thus crafted exhibit exceptional physical and chemical properties that hold immense promise in the field of tissue engineering (TE). Our review underscores the myriad applications of drug-eluting protein and polysaccharide-based textiles, including TE, tissue repair, regeneration, and wound healing. Additionally, we delve into commercially available products that harness the potential of medicated biotextiles, paving the way for a brighter future in healthcare and regenerative medicine. Step into the world of innovation with medicated biotextiles-where science meets the art of healing.

Wet-spinnability and crosslinked Fiber properties of alginate/hydroxyethyl cellulose with varied proportion for potential use in tendon tissue engineering

Researchers have examined different bio-inspired materials in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine to fabricate scaffolds to address tendon regeneration requirements. We developed fibers based on alginate (Alg) and hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) by wet-spinning technique to mimic the fibrous sheath of ECM. Various proportions (25:75, 50:50, 75:25) of 1 % Alg and 4 % HEC were blended to this aim. Two steps of crosslinking with different concentrations of CaCl₂ (2.5 and 5 %) and glutaraldehyde (2.5 %) were used to improve physical and mechanical properties. The fibers were characterized by FTIR, SEM, swelling, degradation, and tensile tests. The in vitro proliferation, viability, and migration of tenocytes on the fibers were also evaluated. Moreover, the biocompatibility of implanted fibers was investigated in an animal model. The results showed ionic and covalent molecular interactions between the components. In addition, by properly maintaining surface morphology, fiber alignment, and swelling, lower concentrations of HEC in the blending provided good degradability and mechanical features. The mechanical strength of fibers was in the range of collagenous fibers. Increasing the crosslinking led to significantly different mechanical behaviors in terms of tensile strength and elongation at break. Because of good in vitro and in vivo biocompatibility, tenocyte proliferation, and migration, the biological macromolecular fibers could serve as desirable tendon substitutes. This study provides more practical insight into tendon tissue engineering in translational medicine.

Alginate-Based Bio-Composites and Their Potential Applications

Over the last two decades, bio-polymer fibers have attracted attention for their uses in gene therapy, tissue engineering, wound-healing, and controlled drug delivery. The most commonly used bio-polymers are bio-sourced synthetic polymers such as poly (glycolic acid), poly (lactic acid), poly (e-caprolactone), copolymers of polyglycolide and poly (3-hydroxybutyrate), and natural polymers such as chitosan, soy protein, and alginate. Among all of the bio-polymer fibers, alginate is endowed with its ease of sol–gel transformation, remarkable ion exchange properties, and acid stability. Blending alginate fibers with a wide range of other materials has certainly opened many new opportunities for applications. This paper presents an overview on the modification of alginate fibers with nano-particles, adhesive peptides, and natural or synthetic polymers, in order to enhance their properties. The application of alginate fibers in several areas such as cosmetics, sensors, drug delivery, tissue engineering, and water treatment are investigated. The first section is a brief theoretical background regarding the definition, the source, and the structure of alginate. The second part deals with the physico-chemical, structural, and biological properties of alginate bio-polymers. The third part presents the spinning techniques and the effects of the process and solution parameters on the thermo-mechanical and physico-chemical properties of alginate fibers. Then, the fourth part presents the additives used as fillers in order to improve the properties of alginate fibers. Finally, the last section covers the practical applications of alginate composite fibers.

UV-Crosslinked Electrospun Zein/PEO Fibroporous Membranes for Wound Dressing

Electrospun zein membranes are suitable for various biomedical applications. A UV-crosslinked electrospun membrane of a zein/PEO blend for wound healing application was explored in this work. The improvement in mechanical properties of the membrane after UV crosslinking was attributed to the change in protein conformation from an α-helix to a β-sheet. The circular dichroism (CD) spectra and FTIR spectra confirmed this conformational change. XRD analysis was shown to prove the amorphous nature of polymer blends with specific broad peaks at 2θ = 9° and 20°. The water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) of the membrane was found to be in the range of 1500-2000 g m^-2 day^-1, which was well suited with that of commercially available wound dressing material. Enough number of available functional groups like thiol, amino, and hydroxyl groups supplement a blood clotting index (BCI) to the matrix, causing 99% BCI within 4 min. A 91% cell viability result in the MTT assay with human dermal fibroblast cells confirmed the noncytotoxicity of the membrane. Tripeptides produced after the thermolysin-based hydrolysis of zein caused inhibition of TGF β1 expression and thus increased fibroblast and collagen production. The membrane stimulated 54% more collagen production compared to control cells at day 2 and caused 84% wound closure in human dermal fibroblast cells, which were desirable index markers of a potential wound care material.

Drug-Eluting Medical Textiles: From Fiber Production and Textile Fabrication to Drug Loading and Delivery

Drug-eluting medical textiles have recently gained great attention to be used in different applications due to their cost effectiveness and unique physical and chemical properties. Using various fiber production and textile fabrication technologies, fibrous constructs with the required properties for the target drug delivery systems can be designed and fabricated. This review summarizes the current advances in the fabrication of drug-eluting medical textiles. Different fiber production methods such as melt-, wet-, and electro-spinning, and textile fabrication techniques such as knitting and weaving are explained. Moreover, various loading processes of bioactive agents to obtain drug-loaded fibrous structures with required physicochemical and morphological properties, drug delivery mechanisms, and drug release kinetics are discussed. Finally, the current applications of drug-eluting fibrous systems in wound care, tissue engineering, and transdermal drug delivery are highlighted.

Zwitterionized Nanofibrous Poly(vinylidene fluoride) Membranes for Improving the Healing of Diabetic Wounds

This work presents nanofibrous membranes made of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and poly(2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine-co-methacryloyloxyethyl butylurethane) (PMBU) for promoting the healing of acute and chronic wounds. Membranes were prepared by an electrospinning process, which led to matrixes with a pore size mimicking the extracellular matrix. PMBU greatly improves the hydration of membranes, resulting in very low biofouling by protein or bacteria and enhanced blood compatibility while the cell viability remains close to 100%. This set of properties exhibited by the suitable combination of physical structure and material composition led to applying the zwitterionic nanofibrous membranes as wound-dressing materials for acute and chronic wounds. The results demonstrated that the zwitterionic membrane could compete with commercial dressings in terms of wound-healing kinetics and could outperform them with regard to the quality of new tissue. Histological analyses suggested that inflammation was reduced while proliferative and maturation phases were accelerated, leading to homogeneous re-epithelialization. This study unveils another potential biomedical application of antifouling zwitterionic membranes.

Bioactive Molecules Release and Cellular Responses of Alginate-Tricalcium Phosphate Particles Hybrid Gel

In this article, a hybrid gel has been developed using sodium alginate (Alg) and α-tricalcium phosphate (α-TCP) particles through ionic crosslinking process for the application in bone tissue engineering. The effects of pH and composition of the gel on osteoblast cells (MC3T3) response and bioactive molecules release have been evaluated. At first, a slurry of Alg and α-TCP has been prepared using an ultrasonicator for the homogeneous distribution of α-TCP particles in the Alg network and to achieve adequate interfacial interaction between them. After that, CaCl2 solution has been added to the slurry so that ionic crosslinked gel (Alg-α-TCP) is formed. The developed hybrid gel has been physico-chemically characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and a swelling study. The SEM analysis depicted the presence of α-TCP micro-particles on the surface of the hybrid gel, while cross-section images signified that the α-TCP particles are fully embedded in the porous gel network. Different % swelling ratio at pH 4, 7 and 7.4 confirmed the pH responsiveness of the Alg-α-TCP gel. The hybrid gel having lower % α-TCP particles showed higher % swelling at pH 7.4. The hybrid gel demonstrated a faster release rate of bovine serum albumin (BSA), tetracycline (TCN) and dimethyloxalylglycine (DMOG) at pH 7.4 and for the grade having lower % α-TCP particles. The MC3T3 cells are viable inside the hybrid gel, while the rate of cell proliferation is higher at pH 7.4 compared to pH 7. The in vitro cytotoxicity analysis using thiazolyl blue tetrazolium bromide (MTT), bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) and neutral red assays ascertained that the hybrid gel is non-toxic for MC3T3 cells. The experimental results implied that the non-toxic and biocompatible Alg-α-TCP hybrid gel could be used as scaffold in bone tissue engineering.

Biotechnologically produced microbial alginate dressings show enhanced gel forming capacity compared to commercial alginate dressings of marine origin

Marine alginate fibre dressings are well established in wound management. Alginate fibres can absorb plenty of wound exudate due to their gel forming abilities and ion exchange. Alginates from bacteria have never been studied for medical applications so far, although the microbial polymer raises expectations for improved gelling capacity due to its unique O-acetylation. To prove the gelling capacity of bacterial alginate, we extracted the co-polymer from fermentation of the soil bacterium Azotobacter vinelandii ATCC 9046, cultivated on crude glycerol as an alternative carbon source. Bacterial alginate was isolated in high purity and extruded by a wet spinning method. Fibre structure and properties were characterised by infrared spectroscopy, NMR, GPC, scanning electron microscopy and tensile testing. The fibres could be processed into biocompatible needle web dressings, which showed more than twice the gel formation in saline compared to commercial dressings made of marine alginates. Gelled dressings of bacterial alginate formed stable hydrogels of sufficient shape and strength for wound healing applications. This work suggests that the increased gel formation of bacterial alginate from A. vinelandii may be optimal for the preparation of novel wound dressings.

Terminal sterilization of alginate hydrogels: efficacy and impact on mechanical properties

Terminal, or postprocessing, sterilization of composite biomaterials is crucial for their use in wound healing and tissue-engineered devices. Recent research has focused on optimizing traditional biomaterial formulations to create better products for commercial and academic use which incorporate hydrophobic compounds or secondary gel networks. To use a hydrogel in a clinical setting, terminal sterilization is necessary to ensure patient safety. Lyophilization, gamma-irradiation, and ethylene oxide treatment all have negative consequences when applied to alginate scaffolds for clinical use. Here, we aim to find alternative terminal sterilization methods for alginate and alginate-based composite hydrogels which maintain the structure of composite alginate networks for use in biomedical applications. A thorough investigation of the effect of common sterilization methods on swollen alginate-based hydrogels has not been reported and therefore, this work examines autoclaving, ethanol washing, and ultraviolet light as sterilization techniques for alginate and alginate/Pluronic® F68 composite hydrogels. Preservation of structural integrity is evaluated using shear rheology and analysis of water retention, and efficacy of sterilization is determined via bacterial persistence within the hydrogel. Results indicate that ethanol sterilization is the best method of those investigated because ethanol washing results in minimal effects on mechanical properties and water retention and eliminates bacterial persistence. Furthermore, this study suggests that ethanol treatment is an efficacious method for terminally sterilizing interpenetrating networks or other composite hydrogel systems.