Preparation of Levofloxacin Loaded Anti-Microbial Chitosan and Silk Fibroin Scaffold for Wound Dressing

Project Title

Preparation of Levofloxacin Loaded Anti-Microbial Chitosan and Silk Fibroin Scaffold for Wound Dressing

Project Area of Specialization Wearables and ImplantableProject Summary

Infection control in wound healing process is one of the serious problems in wound care. Antimicrobial wound dressings are beneficial to minimize bacterial infection of wounds and heal them in a short period of time.  They can be used to treat severe injuries through the delivery of drug to wound sites. Many wound dressings have been prepared which rely on natural polymers or their combination with synthetic polymers. Among them, silk fibroin extracted from Bombyx mori silk cocoons is widely used in wound dressing applications due to its abundance, biocompatibility, biodegradability, low toxicity, and good water and air permeability which accelerates wound healing process. However, silk fibroin does not have antimicrobial properties, which often result in wound infection. Thus, improvement in the antimicrobial properties is very significant in the use of wound dressing. As one of the natural polymers, chitosan has good biocompatibility and antimicrobial properties, but with low cost and abundant source. Thus, chitosan become favored antimicrobial materials for wound dressings.

In this study, silk fibroin and chitosan composite scaffolds will be fabricated using freeze drying method for effective wound dressing application. The prepared chitosan and silk fibroin 3D scaffold will be loaded with Levofloxacin HCL which is a soluble antimicrobial drug and commonly used in tissue engineering. Chitosan, which also acts as a drug carrier may carry and release levofloxacin HCL to the wound site for certain duration of time. The prepared composite scaffolds will be characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and evaluated for antibacterial properties. These composite scaffolds using silk fibroin, chitosan with appropriate antimicrobial agent could successfully inhibit the growth of bacteria. Therefore, composite scaffolds could be promising candidate for wound dressing applications.

Project Objectives

1. To prepare antimicrobial wound dressing with biocompatible chitosan/ silk fibroin using levofloxacin HCL as soluble drugs.
2. To evaluate drug release properties of 3D scaffolds.
3. To evaluate antimicrobial activity by agar diffusion test method.
4. Structural and surface characterization of prepared scaffolds using SEM, FTIR, and XRD. 

Project Implementation Method

This project is divided into three stages. The first stage is to extract silk fibroin and eliminate sericin protein from Bombyx mori silk cocoons by degumming process and obtain silk fibroin solution by chemical treatment. The second stage requires the silk fibroin solution to be mixed with chitosan using citric acid as a cross-linking agent to prepare a uniform mixture of chitosan and silk fibroin. This mixture would be transferred to petri dishes and frozen overnight. At last, the freeze-dried plates would be lyophilized for 24 hours and 3D composite scaffolds are obtained. The prepared silk fibroin composite scaffold would then be loaded with 0.5% levofloxacin solution and dried at room temperature. Lastly, the yield composite product would be characterized using FTIR, SEM, and XRD and tested for its antibacterial activity.

Benefits of the Project

One of the most serious challenge in wound care is difficulty of the infection control in wound healing process. One way to reduce infection is to supply heavy oral doses of antibiotics. However, taking such high amounts of antibiotics may cause severe side effects to the body of the patient. To date, different silk fibroin dressings with antimicrobial properties have been applied in different forms for wound healing. However, the existing composite scaffolds lack sustained release of antibiotic drugs to the wound site which is necessary for chronic wounds.

This project provides a controlled and durable antibiotic release system on the 3D composite scaffold to minimize infections in chronic wounds. These composite scaffolds are expected to provide slow antibiotic release to the wound site leading to rapid wound healing. Thus, these scaffolds will prevent body from harmful side effects of antibiotics. 

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

The project comprises the preparation of silk fibroin and chitosan composite scaffolds. The prepared composite scaffolds for wound dressing will include surface and structural characterization using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). Moreover, the prepared composite samples would be evaluated for its antibacterial properties using agar diffusion test method.

Final Deliverable of the Project Hardware SystemType of Industry Medical , Health Technologies Wearables and ImplantablesSustainable Development Goals Good Health and Well-Being for PeopleRequired Resources

Item Name	Type	No. of Units	Per Unit Cost (in Rs)	Total (in Rs)
			Total in (Rs)	59280
Digital Magnetic hotplate stirrer	Equipment	1	50000	50000
Calcium chloride	Miscellaneous	1	1000	1000
Distilled water	Miscellaneous	4	170	680
Printing	Miscellaneous	2	500	1000
Dialysis tubing	Miscellaneous	2	2000	4000
Levofloxacin tablets	Miscellaneous	20	30	600
Other chemicals	Miscellaneous	1	2000	2000