Antibacterial activity and in vivo wound healing evaluation of polycaprolactone-gelatin methacryloyl-cephalexin electrospun nanofibrous

Abstract

Infections, particularly those induced via drug resistant pathogens, can cause serious issues in wound healing process. In this study, cephalexin (CEX), as an effective antibiotic, was loaded into polycaprolactone (PCL)-gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) nanofibrous by electrospinning for the development of a new wound dressing. The electrospun nanofibrous possessed continuous and smooth structure with the fiber diameters ranging from 280 to 330 nm. Swelling examination exhibited that the electrospun nanofibrous could take up water by 400–600%. Antibacterial activity of PCL/GelMA loading with CEX had a great inhibition towards both Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and negative-bacteria Escherichia coli. The hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) and Masson's trichrome (MT) staining results from treated wounds with PCL/GelMA-CEX nanofibrous exhibited improved re-epithelialization and collagen deposition. Taken together, our study illustrate the PCL/GelMA-CEX nanofibrous can be promising for use as an effective antibacterial wound dressing in skin regeneration.