Antibacterial Effect of Thymol Loaded SBA-15 Nanorods Incorporated in PCL Electrospun Fibers
Enrique Gámez,
Hellen Elizondo-Castillo,
Jorge Tascon,
Sara García-Salinas,
Nuria Navascues,
Gracia Mendoza,
Manuel Arruebo,
Silvia Irusta
Affiliations
Enrique Gámez
Department of Chemical Engineering. Aragon Institute of Nanoscience (INA), University of Zaragoza, Campus Río Ebro-Edificio I+D, C/Poeta Mariano Esquillor S/N, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain
Hellen Elizondo-Castillo
Department of Chemical Engineering. Aragon Institute of Nanoscience (INA), University of Zaragoza, Campus Río Ebro-Edificio I+D, C/Poeta Mariano Esquillor S/N, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain
Jorge Tascon
Department of Chemical Engineering. Aragon Institute of Nanoscience (INA), University of Zaragoza, Campus Río Ebro-Edificio I+D, C/Poeta Mariano Esquillor S/N, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain
Sara García-Salinas
Department of Chemical Engineering. Aragon Institute of Nanoscience (INA), University of Zaragoza, Campus Río Ebro-Edificio I+D, C/Poeta Mariano Esquillor S/N, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain
Nuria Navascues
Department of Chemical Engineering. Aragon Institute of Nanoscience (INA), University of Zaragoza, Campus Río Ebro-Edificio I+D, C/Poeta Mariano Esquillor S/N, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain
Gracia Mendoza
Networking Research Center on Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine, CIBER-BBN, 28029 Madrid, Spain
Manuel Arruebo
Department of Chemical Engineering. Aragon Institute of Nanoscience (INA), University of Zaragoza, Campus Río Ebro-Edificio I+D, C/Poeta Mariano Esquillor S/N, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain
Silvia Irusta
Department of Chemical Engineering. Aragon Institute of Nanoscience (INA), University of Zaragoza, Campus Río Ebro-Edificio I+D, C/Poeta Mariano Esquillor S/N, 50018 Zaragoza, Spain
For the effective management of infected chronic wounds, the incorporation of antimicrobial drugs into wound dressings can increase their local availability at the infection site. Mesoporous silicon dioxide SBA-15 is an excellent drug carrier with tunable drug release kinetics. In this work, synthesized SBA-15 loaded with the natural antimicrobial compound thymol (THY) was incorporated into polycaprolactone (PCL) electrospun nanofibers to obtain an advanced wound dressing. Rod-shaped particles with internal parallel channels oriented along the longitudinal axis (diameter: 138 ± 30 nm, length: 563 ± 100 nm) were loaded with 70.8 wt.% of THY. Fiber mats were prepared using these particles as nanofillers within polycaprolactone (PCL) electrospun fibers. The resulting mats contained 5.6 wt.% of THY and more than half of this loading was released in the first 7 h. This release would prevent an initial bacterial colonization and also inhibit or eliminate bacterial growth as in vitro shown against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923. Minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC: 0.07 mg/mL) and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC: 0.11 mg/mL) of released THY were lower than the amount of free THY required, demonstrating the benefit of drug encapsulation for a more efficient bactericidal capacity due to the direct contact between mats and bacteria.
