Electrospinning of curcumin loaded chitosan/poly (lactic acid) nanofilm and evaluation of its medicinal characteristics

Abstract

The curcumin loaded chitosan/poly (lactic acid) (PLA) nanofibers were produced using electrospinning. Box-Behnken experimental design was used for the optimization of variables (–1, 0, +1 coded level) like chitosan/PLA strength (% w/v), curcumin strength (% w/v) and applied voltage (kV) to obtain uniform fiber diameter. The morphology of nanofibers was shown by SEM. Molecular interactions and the presence of each chemical compound of curcumin loaded chitosan/PLA fibers were characterized by FTIR and EDX analysis. Antioxidant, drug release and in vitro cytotoxicity tests were performed to evaluate the suitability of nanofibers that would be used for wound healing. In vivo wound healing studies on excision and incision wounds created on rat model showed significant reduction of wound area when compared to untreated. The better healing efficiency can be attributed to the presence of curcumin and chitosan.

Keywords

Box-Behnken / chitosan / curcumin / electrospinning / poly (lactic acid) (PLA)