RESUMO
The aim of the present study was to develop PVA/PEO/CMC/aloe vera (PPCAV) and PVA/PEO/CMC/curcumin (PPCCu) dressings with nonwoven polyester fabric as the support layer via freeze-drying (FD) approach. Tetracycline hydrochloride drug (TC) was loaded along with curcumin and aloe vera on these dressings. The morphology of the dressings was characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The swelling behavior, water vapor transmission rate (WVTR), in vitro drug release and antimicrobial nature were analyzed to assess the applicability of these freeze-dried membranes as wound dressing materials. The results show that these dressings made from PPCAVTC and PPCCuTC were highly porous with three-dimensional interconnected porous morphology. The cumulative release of drug from the dressings increases with increasing immersion time and continued up to 24 h, after that it gets leveled off. These dressings evidenced wonderful antimicrobial nature in vitro. These dressings were found to have more than 900 % PBS uptake, WVTR was found to be in the range 2,000-2,500 gm(-2) day(-1). These dressings possess many characteristics desirable in an ideal wound dressing material.