Electrospun Wound Dressing As a Promising Tool for the Therapeutic Delivery of Ascorbic Acid and Caffeine

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this work is to formulate a wound dressing for the delivery of ascorbic acid and caffeine. Method: A wound dressing was developed from electrospun nanofiber containing ascorbic acid and caffeine. In vitro drug release was performed at 25°C and 32°C. Wound healing activity of the nanofiber mats was tested in vivo using rat model with skin excision. Antifungal activity of the dressing was tested on Candida albicans using the disc diffusion method. Results & conclusion: Zone of inhibition was 6.7 mm for caffeine dressing; however, inhibition zone increased to 16.7 mm for samples containing both caffeine and ascorbic acid. Animals treated with ascorbic acid showed collagen deposition and very few fibroblast cells. Blood vessels and fibroblasts were increased in caffeine-loaded dressings compared with the ascorbic acid group. The findings of the present work suggest the benefits of topical ascorbic acid and caffeine for its high wound healing effects.

Keywords:

• ascorbic acid
• caffeine
• electrospinning
• nanofiber
• topical drug delivery
• wound healing

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors would like to thank Urmia University of Medical Sciences for providing financial aid (grant number 1395–1899) for this research project. This work is part of a Pharm. D thesis project. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Ethical conduct of research

All animals were maintained and handled in accordance with the standard ethical guideline and welfare of experimental animal. The protocol was approved by the local ethical committee of Urmia University of Medical Sciences. The authors state that they have obtained appropriate institutional review board approval or have followed the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki for all human or animal experimental investigations. In addition, for investigations involving human subjects, informed consent has been obtained from the participants involved.