Production of Gentamycin-Loaded Poly(Vinyl Alcohol)/Gelatin Nanofiber by Electrospinning Method as Wound Dressing Material

Wound dressings based on nanofiber polymer scaffolds with good antimicrobial capacity and skin regeneration ability are hopeful alternatives for hindering wound infection and speeding wound healing. In this study, Gentamicin (GEN) loaded polyvinyl alcohol and gelatin (PVA/GEL) nanofibers were successfully produced by electrospinning for wound dressing applications. In order to increase the mechanical strength of the produced nanofibers and to prevent their rapid deterioration, crosslinking was done with glutaraldehyde (GA) vapor. When the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of the nanofibers were examined, it was observed that they had a smooth structure without beads and no drug crystals and clusters were observed on the surface. In addition, the mean diameters of PVA/JEL, PVA/JEL/0.25GEN and PVA/JEL/0.5GEN nanofibers were measured as 278 +/- 40 nm, 373 +/- 68 nm and 493 +/- 105 nm, respectively. Although the increase in the amount of drug in the nanofiber caused a slight increase in the fiber diameters, it did not adversely affect the fiber morphologies. The interaction between Fouriertransform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and PVA, GEL, and GEN has been proven. According to the tensile test, the PVA/JEL nanofiber has a tensile strength of 6.31 +/- 0.23 MPa. When 0.25% and 0.5% by weight GEN were loaded into these PVA/JEL nanofibers separately, their tensile strengths were 4.30 +/- 0.58 and 3.95 +/- 0.24 MPa, respectively. It was observed that as the amount of GEN increased, its mechanical strength weakened compared to the pure nanofiber. Considering the antimicrobial activity results, no antibacterial effect was observed in the PVA/GEL/0.25GEN nanofiber, while the antibacterial effect was observed in the PVA/GEL/0.5GEN nanofiber. Drug release studies have been carried out on PVA/GEL/0.5GEN nanofibers with antibacterial effects. Based on the drug release results, it was observed that GEN exhibited a release profile extending from nanofiber up to 264 hours per hour. Considering all the results, GEN-containing nanofibers may have promising potential in tissue engineering and wound dressing applications.