Preparation and hemostatic property of low molecular weight silk fibroin

Effective hemorrhage control becomes increasingly significant in today's military and civilian trauma, while the topical hemostats currently available in market still have various disadvantages. In this study, three low molecular weight silk fibroins (LMSF) were prepared through hydrolysis of silk fibroin in a ternary solvent system of CaCl2/H2O/EtOH solution at different hydrolysis temperatures. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis showed that the content of β sheet structure in the LMSF decreased with the increase in hydrolysis temperature. The results of thromboelastographic and activated partial thromboplastin time methods showed that the LMSF hydrolyzed at 50 °C can significantly strengthen the coagulation in blood and activate the intrinsic pathway of coagulation cascade. In the murine hepatic injury model, the LMSF hydrolyzed at 50 °C can promote the blood clotting and decrease the blood loss and bleeding time. Based on these results, it can be suggested that the developed LMSF has the excellent hemostatic effect and may be a promising material in clinical hemostatic application.