Controlled Drug Release and Antibacterial Properties of Levofloxacin-Loaded Silk/Chitosan Green Composite for Wound Dressing

Antibacterial wound dressings have great importance to reduce wound infections caused by bacteria. In this research work, levofloxacin-loaded silk fibroin and chitosan composite scaffolds were synthesized for effective wound dressing applications. Initially, silk was degummed for extraction of silk fibroin, and it was mixed with chitosan at different ratios. The chitosan and silk fibroin were stirred at room temperature to get soluble and clear gel formation. Afterward, citric acid was poured into the solution and stirred for more 30 min to get a homogeneous solution. The chitosan and silk fibroin composite was dried using a vacuum oven at 40 °C for 48 h. Next, the composite was loaded with levofloxacin HCL for 24 h at room temperature. The prepared composite was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The antibacterial activity of prepared scaffolds was evaluated by the agar disc diffusion method. The results of FTIR spectroscopy proved that citric acid cross-linked the cross-linked silk fibroin with chitosan. SEM and EDX spectroscopy demonstrated successful loading of levofloxacin onto scaffolds. Moreover, the levofloxacin-loaded scaffold samples confirmed sustained drug release and antibacterial properties. All results demonstrated that the composite scaffolds using silk fibroin and chitosan with an appropriate antibacterial agent could effectively inhibit the growth of bacteria. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2022.