Poly (lactic acid) (PLA) electrospun nanofibers containing rice extracts for biomedical applications

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) is one of the most promising biodegradable polymers for biomedical applications because of good biocompatibility, tunable mechanical properties and ease of fabrication into ultra-fine fibers using... [ view full abstract ]

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) is one of the most promising biodegradable polymers for biomedical applications because of good biocompatibility, tunable mechanical properties and ease of fabrication into ultra-fine fibers using electrospinning. This study aimed to fabricate electrospun poly(lactic acid) (PLA) fiber mats containing 3 kinds of rice extract (rice bran, riceberry and LeumPhum rice extracts) by using electrospinning process. Rice is a main cereal crop in Thailand. The rice extract has been reported to exhibit antioxidant activities. As-prepared electrospun PLA nanofibers showed smooth and uniform fibers without the formation of beads and possessed average diameters ranging from 498-668 nm . The SEM observations found that the elctrospinning process conditions were appropriate for the fabrication of smooth, uniform, and randomly-oriented fibers (Figure1). Release characteristics of the rice extract-loaded electrospun PLA fiber mats were investigated using total immersion methods. The release of rice extracts showed a burst release at the initial stage of approximately 25-30 %, followed by slower release that maintained at 26-33 %. At 300 min, the cumulative amount of Rice bran, Rice berry, and LeumPhum was about 22 %, 23 %, and 24 %. At the longest submersion time (@2880 min), the value increased slightly to 26 %, 26 %, and 33 %, respectively (Figure 2). The scavenging ability of LeumPhum rice extract-loaded electrospun fibers showed superior scavenging activity as determined using the DPPH radical scavenging method. The antioxidant capacity of as-released rice bran ranged between 28.45 and 34.58 %, while those of Riceberry and LeumPhum ranged between 32.73 and 32.60 % and 37.58 and 38.54 %, respectively. The physical properties such as swelling and weight loss behavior, and tensile strength were investigated to evaluate the usefulness of electrospun nanofibers to wound dressing. Furthermore, the potential use of these rice extract-loaded PLA electrospun fibers were further assessed in terms of the indirect cytotoxicity, in vitro attachment and proliferation of dermal human fibroblasts (HDFa). Therefore, the results suggest that rice extract-loaded PLA electrospun fibers have the antioxidant capacity for potential application as wound dressings.