Electrospun chitosan/tetrahydrocurcumin fiber mats for biomedical application

Electrospun Chitosan/Tetrahydrocurcumin (THC) fiber mats were successfully prepared by electrospinning. Chitosan was used for the local delivery of a drug. THC was selected as the model drug that exhibits many of the same physiological and pharmacological activities as curcumin. 20wt.% THC (compared with the weight of chitosan) and 6.9wt% chitosan in 70:30 (v/v) trifluoroacetic acid (TFA):dichloromethane (DCM) were used as the optimum solution for fabricating nanofibers. After spinning, they were crosslinked with GTA vapor (for 1 h) and neutralized to prevent the dissolution and fusion of the fibers. SEM images of the post-neutralized and crosslinked fiber mats were observed where the fibers were not fused after neutralization and crosslinking treatment and the average fiber diameter was in the range of 290-310 nm. The accumulative release of ThC increased continuously with immersion time and leveled off at a long immersion time (for the total immersion method). The post neutralized and crosslinked electrospun chitosan/THC fiber mats exhibited much greater release of the model drug when compared to the post neutralized and crosslinked chitosan/THC films. All of the eletrospun chitosan/THC fiber mats were not toxic, and did not release cytotoxic substances in the culture medium towards mouse fibroblasts (L929).