Polysaccharide-enriched electrospun nanofibers for salicylic acid controlled release

This work describes a salicylic acid delivery study from electrospun scaffolds that consisted of hydrophilic-like chitosan (CS) and cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and hydrophobic-like poly-d,l-lactide (PDLLA) polymers whose final application is wound dressing. The first novel element is represented by the production of hybrid scaffolds made of CNCs, CS, and PDLLA, while the second is their combination with salicylic acid as a drug delivery model. The embedding of poly-d,l-lactide and cellulose nanocrystals in the scaffolds was demonstrated by attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, while the presence of chitosan by a ninhydrin spectrophotometric assay. The morphology of the scaffolds was examined by scanning electron microscopy. In vitro cumulative drug release studies were carried out, and hydrolytic degradation was conducted to elucidate the composition–release relationship of the membranes further. The results revealed a contribution of the embedded polysaccharides to the Fickian diffusion mechanism of release and two different degradation trends. Finally, a MTS assay on fibroblast cell cultures supplemented with extraction media indicated the noncytotoxicity of each scaffold.