Biocompatibility evaluation of nanofibrous membranes

Sara Pouranvari,1,* Mahdieh sadat taghavi,2 Firuz ebrahimi,3

1. Department of Biology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
2. Department of Biology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
3. Biology Research Center, Basic Science Faculty, IHU, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Introduction

Nanofibrous memberanes have great potential for using in many biomedical applications such as wound dressing, tissue engineering, protein immobilization, barriers for the prevention of induced adhesion after operation. electrospinning is a simple, versatile and cost effective method for forming non-woven nanofibrous scaffolds. in the present study, we fabricated the chitosan/polyvinyl alcohol (chi/pva) nanofibers for biomedical application.

Methods

Chitosan and polyvinyl alcohol were selected due to theirs antibacterial and chemical resistance properties, respectively. stabilization of this nanofibers was performed using thermal cross-linking. the morphology and microstructure of electrospun nanofibers was determined by scanning electron microscopy, before and after cross-linking. finally, biocompatibility of chi/pva nanofibrous membranes for biomedical applications was tested in vitro using mtt (3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5- diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay on the mouse fibroblasts cells (nih-3t3 cell line).

Results

Sem micrographs, before crosslinking, showed relatively fine, uniform fiber-structure (no bead), continuous and randomly oriented fibers were produced. according to sem micrographs, after crosslinking, the optimum temperature and time for thermal cross-linking of nanofibers was selected. mtt assay results showed that cell viability of nanofibers cross-linked with heat was significantly (p<0.01) higher than that of the control.

Conclusion

In conclusion, our fabricated nanofibers with thermal cross-linking method is excellent candidate for biomedical application specially wound dressing due to its porous structure and antimicrobial traits of the chitosan. however, it seems, in vitro evaluation is necessary for cytocompatibility assessment of fabricated nanofibrous membranes as biomedical material.

Keywords

Electrospinning, chitosan, polyvinyl alcohol, cross-linking