Nanofibrous dressing with drug/electroactivity synergistic effect for wound healing

Although electrical stimulation (ES) and drugs are desirable for wound healing, dressings that combine ES and drugs are scarce. In this study, an electroactive drug-loaded nanofibrous dressing (PUE-Zn/AB@CA) was prepared by loading zinc/acetylene black nanoparticle particles (Zn/AB) in Puerarin/cellulose acetate (PUE/CA) nanofibres, respectively. Due to the different potentials, many galvanic couples can be formed between Zn and AB, generating electrical stimulation that promotes cell migration and proliferation. Benefiting from the synergistic effect of Zn/AB electrical stimulation and PUE, PUE-Zn/AB@CA exhibits excellent antioxidant, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties. The whole-layer wound defect model experiment showed that PUEZn/AB@CA can significantly accelerate wound closure and promote granulation tissue formation, collagen deposition, and angiogenesis at the wound. Moreover, PUE-Zn/AB@CA could inhibit the inflammatory infiltration of M1-type macrophages in damaged wounds. In addition, flow cytometry and Western blot (WB) revealed that PUE-Zn/AB@CA could effectively down-regulate the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced macrophage polarisation towards M1-type and reduce the protein level of pro-inflammatory cytokines (iNOS) in the cells. This work provided an effective wound healing strategy based on drug/electroactivity synergistic effects.