Electrospun membranes of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) used as scaffold in drug delivery of extract of Sedum dendroideum.

Biomaterials nanofibrous electrospun with biodegradable polymers have the advantage of the similarity to natural extracellular matrices, showing promising as scaffolds for application in tissue engineering. Sedum dendroideum is a phytotherapic drug that stands out for its healing properties and anti-inflammatory. This study presents the efficacy of PLA electrospun membranes used as support S. dendroideum extract releasing on excisional skin lesions of Wistar rats. The PLA porous membranes, which are nonwoven fibrous mats, were obtained by electrospinning using a conventional apparatus with a flat collector. The animals were randomly divided into nine groups: control (C), animals treated with electrospun membranes of PLA (M), animals treated with extract of S. dendroideum dissolved in saline (F), animals treated with membranes of PLA with 10% S. dendroideum (MF10), animals treated with membranes of PLA with 25% S. dendroideum (MF25). Tissue samples were taken after 2, 6 and 10 days after surgery and were subjected to structural analysis and morphology. The experimental observations showed the application of the phytotherapic incorporated in the membrane promoted a significant response regarding the number of inflammatory cells, percentage of mature collagen fibers and epithelium birrefringent in thickness excisional skin lesions in Wistar rats. It was also demonstrated that the application of the PLA membranes without the extract promoted similar responses tissues.

Evaluation of the diffusion coefficient for controlled release of oxytetracycline from alginate/chitosan/poly(ethylene glycol) microbeads in simulated gastrointestinal environments.

Diffusion studies of OTC (oxytetracycline) entrapped in microbeads of calcium alginate, calcium alginate coacervated with chitosan (of high, medium and low viscosity) and calcium alginate coacervated with chitosan of low viscosity, covered with PEG [poly(ethylene glycol) of molecular mass 2, 4.6 and 10 kDa, were carried out at 37+/-0.5 degrees C, in pH 7.4 and pH 1.2 buffer solutions - conditions similar to those found in the gastrointestinal system. The diffusion coefficient, or diffusivity (D), of OTC was calculated by equations provided by Crank [(1975) Mathematics in Diffusion, p. 85, Clarendon Press, Oxford] for diffusion, which follows Fick's [(1855) Ann. Physik (Leipzig) 170, 59] second law, considering the diffusion from the inner parts to the surface of the microbeads. The least-squares and the Newton-Raphson [Carnahan, Luther and Wilkes (1969) Applied Numerical Methods, p. 319, John Wiley & Sons, New York] methods were used to obtain the diffusion coefficients. The microbead swelling at pH 7.4 and OTC diffusion is classically Fickian, suggesting that the OTC transport, in this case, is controlled by the exchange rates of free water and relaxation of calcium alginate chains. In case of acid media, it was observed that the phenomenon did not follow Fick's law, owing, probably, to the high solubility of the OTC in this environment. It was possible to modulate the release rate of OTC in several types of microbeads. The presence of cracks formed during the process of drying the microbeads was observed by scanning electron microscopy.