Electrospun cellulose acetate/gelatin nanofibrous wound dressing containing berberine for diabetic foot ulcer healing: in vitro and in vivo studies

Abstract

Functional dressing with tailored physicochemical and biological properties is vital for diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) treatment. Our main objective in the current study was to fabricate Cellulose Acetate/Gelatin (CA/Gel) electrospun nanofibrous mat loaded with berberine (Beri) as the DFU dressing. The results demonstrated that the diameter of the nanofibers was around 502 nm, the tensile strength, contact angle, porosity, water vapor permeability, and water uptake ratio of CA/Gel nanofibers were around 2.83 MPa, 58.07, 78.17 %, 11.23 mg/cm2 hr, and 12.78 respectively, while these values for CA/Gel/Beri nanofibers were 2.69 {+/-} 0.05 MPa, 56.93 {+/-} 1, 76.17 {+/-} 0.76 %, 10.17 {+/-} 0.21 mg/cm2 hr, 14.37 {+/-} 0.42 respectively. The bacterial evaluations demonstrated that the dressings are an excellent barrier against bacterial penetration with potent antibacterial activity. The animal studies depicted that the collagen density and angiogenesis score in the CA/Gel/Beri treated group were 88.8{+/-}6.7 % and 19.8{+/-}3.8, respectively. These findings implied that the incorporation of berberine did not compromise the physical properties of dressing, while improving the biological activates. In conclusion, our findings implied that the prepared mat is a proper wound dressing for DFU management and treatment.