Antibiotic-Encapsulated Poly(lactic acid) Particles integrated in Porous Gelatin Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering Applications

Loss and damage of tissues generally arise from chronic diseases and traumatic lesions. For instance, infections, inflammatory diseases, severe burns and deep wounds are needed a promising strategy to reconstruct new tissue... [ view full abstract ]

Loss and damage of tissues generally arise from chronic diseases and traumatic lesions. For instance, infections, inflammatory diseases, severe burns and deep wounds are needed a promising strategy to reconstruct new tissue with showing normal functions. Due to complexity and diversity of specific tissues, three-dimensional scaffolds showing microporous structure and optical physico-chemical properties with an addition of therapeutic drugs have gained high interests with the basis of tissue engineering. Therefore, tetracycline hydrochloride-encapsulated poly(lactic acid) (TCH-PLA) particles were fabricated by the method of double emulsion/solvent evaporation and were incorporated into gelatin foams, forming three-dimensional TCH-PLA/Gel porous scaffolds. Morphology, encapsulation efficiency and chemical composition of the fabricated particles were investigated. The results demonstrated that drug-free PLA- and TCH-PLA particles were in submicron-sized spherical shape (up to 0.5 micrometers). Their size distribution was heterogeneous when the drug was encapsulated and the encapsulation efficiency was found at around 77%. In addition, TCH-PLA particles were incorporated in porous gelatin foams fabricated by lyophilization method followed by chemical crosslinking. FTIR analysis was used to confirm the existence of both PLA and gelatin. In vitro release study showed that the TCH-PLA particles exhibited TCH release in an initial burst release reaching around 55% after 72 h of immersion in phosphate buffered saline solution, followed by a sustain release (up to 60%) at longer time. Meanwhile, the TCH-PLA/Gel scaffolds released lower amount of drug compared to the TCH-PLA particles at the same time. Antibacterial test was performed to confirm the antibacterial activity of TCH-PLA/Gel scaffolds against S. aureus and E. coli, indicated by the reduction of bacteria after incubation for 1, 3 and 7 days. From the results, TCH-PLA/Gel scaffolds with drug releasing function are able to be used in tissue engineering.