Chronic wounds not only lower the patient`s quality of life significantly, but also present a huge financial burden for the healthcare systems around the world. Treatment of larger wounds often requires the use of more complex materials, which can ensure a successful renewal or replacement of damaged or destroyed tissues. Despite a range of advanced wound dressings that can facilitate wound healing, there are still no clinically used dressings for effective local pain management. Herein, alginate (ALG) and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), two of the most commonly used materials in the field of chronic wound care, and combination of ALG-CMC were used to create a model wound dressing system in the form of multi-layered thin solid films using the spin-assisted layer-by-layer (LBL) coating technique. The latter multi-layer system was used to incorporate and study the release kinetics of analgesic drugs such as diclofenac and lidocaine at physiological conditions. The wettability, morphology, physicochemical and surface properties of the coated films were evaluated using different surface sensitive analytical tools. The influence of in situ incorporated drug molecules on the surface properties (e.g. roughness) and on the proliferation of human skin cells (keratinocytes and skin fibroblasts) was further evaluated. The results obtained from this preliminary study should be considered as the basis for the development ‘real’ wound dressing materials and for 3D bio-printing applications.
COBISS.SI-ID: 22236950
Thin films are an important model platform for initial testing and development of advanced products, especially those that include expensive active ingredients, e.g. Growth Factors. Such model systems allow for cheaper development, ease the process of finding suitable components of final products, as well as reduce (or expose) potential hurdles in the development of advanced products, especially in the case of their potential application in biomedicine. Herein we show the potential of alginate/carboxymethyl cellulose based thin films as the testing platform for evaluation of the influence of in situ incorporation of Growth Factors into formulations intended for 3D bio printing in the preparation of novel material for wound healing. For this purpose, the thin films were analysed using ATR-FTIR, Atomic Force, Scanning Electron Microscopies, and Water Contact Angle measurement, with and without included Growth Factors (EGF, FGF and PDGF). Several aspects in regard of the thin films influence on growth of both most abundant skin cell types, were also tested. We believe that the prepared thin film-based testing platform could present an important tool to aid the development of novel printable (bio)inks.
COBISS.SI-ID: 22406678
Limitations in wound management have prompted scientists to introduce bioprinting techniques for creating constructs that can address clinical problems. The bioprinting approach is renowned for its ability to spatially control the three-dimensional (3D) placement of cells, molecules, and biomaterials. These features provide new possibilities to enhance homology to native skin and improve functional outcomes. However, for the clinical value, the development of hydrogel bioink with refined printability and bioactive properties is needed. In this study, we combined the outstanding viscoelastic behavior of nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) with the fast cross-linking ability of alginate (ALG), carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), and encapsulated human-derived skin fibroblasts (hSF) to create a bioink for the 3D bioprinting of a dermis layer. The shear thinning behavior of hSF-laden bioink enables construction of 3D scaffolds with high cell density and homogeneous cell distribution. The obtained results demonstrated that hSF-laden bioink supports cellular activity of hSF (up to 29 days) while offering proper printability in a biologically relevant 3D environment, making it a promising tool for skin tissue engineering and drug testing applications.
COBISS.SI-ID: 512974392
Pain is already known to cause delays in wound healing. Therefore, providing suitable therapeutic solutions for a less painful wound-healing should attract significantly more attention in development of future of novel wound care solutions. In this study, the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) diclofenac (DCS) and the local anesthetic lidocaine (LID) were combined in wound dressing materials prepared using two different techniques. We compared the release of the mentioned drugs from a 3D bioprinted carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) based scaffold with their release from an electrospun CMC-based nano-mesh. Since a well-defined and controlled drug release is of great importance for any material to be used in the clinics, we have put a lot of effort into a systematic evaluation of both prepared materials, using the two different techniques. For this purpose, we used different methods to characterize their physico-chemical, structural and morphological properties. Further, the influence of the respective preparation procedures on the release profile and biocompatibility with human skin cells were tested. Both prepared materials were proven biocompatible. We have also shown that the drug release of both incorporated drugs was significantly affected by the preparation method. The resulting release performances of respective materials were shown to benefit the treatment of specific wounds. Finally, by combining both preparation techniques for the preparation of a single dressing, several advantageous properties could be achieved.
COBISS.SI-ID: 21262870
Skin injuries cause impaired skin functions, which – without proper care – can lead to severe complications. Therefore, wound care treatment provides the possibility for improved solutions to enhance healing. The novel electrospun mats with included plant extract showing already proven positive effects on the wound healing were developed within this research. The influence of plant extract on the electrospinning process was further evaluated. The antioxidant and antibacterial properties of the so-prepared electrospun mats were determined, where special attention was devoted to the stability/degradation study of active compounds in plant extracts (phenolic compounds) during the electrospinning process. This process was complemented by the release study with results indicating a promising potential of this product to use for wound care as a self-contained wound dressing or as a part of number of already existing novel wound dressing materials.
COBISS.SI-ID: 23049494