Volume 142, Issue 15 e56731
RESEARCH ARTICLE

In Vitro Biocompatibility and Wound Healing Potential of Bilayered Scaffold With Electrospun Gentamicin-Loaded Pullulan/PVA/Gum Arabic Nanofibers and Solvent-Casted PLA

Kuhelika Das

Kuhelika Das

Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Assam, India

Centre for Sustainable Polymers, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Assam, India

Contribution: Conceptualization (equal), Data curation (equal), Formal analysis (lead), ​Investigation (lead), Methodology (lead), Software (lead), Writing - original draft (lead), Writing - review & editing (equal)

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Vikas Tiwari

Vikas Tiwari

Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research Guwahati, Assam, India

Contribution: Formal analysis (equal), Software (equal)

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Varatharajan Prasannavenkadesan

Varatharajan Prasannavenkadesan

Centre for Sustainable Polymers, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Assam, India

Contribution: Writing - review & editing (equal)

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Sanjay K. Banerjee

Sanjay K. Banerjee

Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research Guwahati, Assam, India

Contribution: Formal analysis (equal), ​Investigation (equal), Software (equal)

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Vimal Katiyar

Corresponding Author

Vimal Katiyar

Centre for Sustainable Polymers, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Assam, India

Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Assam, India

Correspondence:

Vimal Katiyar ([email protected])

Contribution: Funding acquisition (lead), Project administration (lead), Resources (lead), Supervision (lead), Validation (lead)

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First published: 15 January 2025
Citations: 4

Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work.

ABSTRACT

Wound healing, especially for severe injuries, require dressings that absorb exudate, prevent infection, and support healing without causing trauma upon removal. Traditional single-layered dressings often fail to balance moisture retention and protection, hindering optimal healing. To address this, a bilayered scaffold was fabricated comprising an electrospun hydrophilic sublayer of Pullulan/Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/Gum arabic blend loaded with Gentamicin and a solvent-casted hydrophobic top layer of Polylactic acid (PLA). The hydrophilic layer was designed for direct wound contact to ease dressing removal, while the hydrophobic layer was to enhance mechanical properties, prevent moisture loss, and protect against external environment. The scaffold exhibited antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli , with controlled Gentamicin release of 93.09% ± 2.63% within 48 h, best described by the zero-order model (R 2 = 0.9850). It demonstrated a swelling index of 611.85% ± 15.05%, indicating its excellent exudate absorbing capacity. The water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) and porosity were 94.20 ± 14.50 g/m2/day and 70.56% ± 0.58%, respectively, both falling within the permissible range for wound healing. Additionally, the in vitro biocompatibility and wound healing assays conducted on human dermal fibroblast (HDF) cells confirmed its noncytotoxicity and applicability in wound dressing applications.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data for the findings of this study is readily available within the article and can also be obtained from the authors upon reasonable request.

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