Evaluation of three-layered doxycycline-collagen loaded nanofiber wound dressing

Nanofiber wound dressings have great potential for both acute and chronic wound healing. The aim of this study is to develop a wound dressing by the electrospinning method and to determine its in vitro characteristics. The viscosity and the surface tension values of the polymer solutions used in the electrospinning were measured and their suitability for electrospinning was evaluated. Nanofiber wound dressing consists of three layers. The first and the second layers are sodium alginate and chitosan nanofibers, respectively. The core of the coaxial nanofibers that comprises the third layer of the wound dressing contains 1% polycaprolactone and 4.5% collagen, the shell comprises 2.5% doxycycline and 2.5% polyethylene oxide. The developed wound dressing comprises aligned nanofibers, with a contact angle of 38°, a work of bioadhesion value of 0.485mJ/cm² on rat skin, a tensile strength of 2.76MPa, an elongation at break value of 7.65%, a specific surface area of 9.65m²/g and a porosity of 52.3%. The amount of doxycycline content was found to be 260μg/cm² and the complete drug release was achieved in 15min. No cytotoxic effect was shown in cell culture studies with keratinocyte cell lines. As a result of the stability studies, it was found that the morphological, mechanical, bioadhesion and wettability properties and the amount of doxycycline remained stable for a period of 12 months at 4°C/ambient humidity condition. The developed three-layered wound dressing could be an alternative for wound healing applications.