Electrospun PLA Fibers Containing Metronidazole for Periodontal Disease

Abstract

Purpose

Electrospun PLA fiber devices were investigated in the form of fiber mats and disks. Metronidazole was used as an active agent; its concentration was 12.2 and 25.7 wt% in the devices.

Methods

The structure was studied by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, drug release by dissolution measurements, while the antimicrobial efficiency was tested on five bacterial strains.

Results

The XRD study showed that the polymer was partially crystalline in both devices, but a part of metronidazole precipitated and was in the form of crystals among and within the fibers. Liquid penetration and dissolution were different in the two devices, they were faster in disks and slower in fiber mats, due to the morphology of the device and the action of capillary forces. Disks released the drug much faster than fiber mats. Although the release study indicated fast drug dissolution, the concentration achieved a plateau value in 24 hrs for the disks; the inhibition effect lasted much longer, 13 days for bacteria sensitive to metronidazole. The longer inhibition period could be explained by the slower diffusion of metronidazole located inside the fibers of the device.

Conclusion

The results suggest that the devices may be effective in the treatment of periodontitis.

Keywords:

• drug release devices
• fiber mats
• disks
• morphology
• dissolution
• capillary forces
• diffusion
• antimicrobial
• inhibition

Acknowledgments

Zita Zuba is acknowledged for carrying out preliminary experiments and optimization of fiber spinning for the devices tested. We are grateful to Judit Rebeka Molnar for the preparation of the fibers used in the experiments and to Péter Polyák for the fitting of dissolution results. The National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NKFIH, Grant No. K 120039) is acknowledged for the financial support of the research. The University of Szeged Open Access Fund (FundRef, Grant No. 4383) is also acknowledged for funding the open-access publication. This research was supported by the ÚNKP-19-3-SZTE-175 New National Excellence Program of the Ministry for Innovation and Technology.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.