The effect of crosslinking time on the release of gentamicin from nanofibers

Abstract

Crosslinking is a chemical reaction that links polymer chains together. It is made to improve the physical and mechanical properties of polymers.[1] Among all crosslinking agents, Glutaraldehyde (GA) shows lower cytotoxicity. GA is more effective than other aldehydes in forming chemically stable crosslinks. To obtain a controlled drug relase, burst release of drug from polymer can be prevented by using crosslinking. Also, the used polymer in the release of drugs is important. Biopolymeric materials have the feature of being the best choice for drug release carriers.[2] In this study, gentamicin (GEN)- loaded polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), gelatin (GEL) nanofibers were produced by electrospinning method. These nanofibers were crosslinked chemically with glutaraldehyde (GA) at different time intervals (2, 4 and 6 hours). The crosslinking effect was observed via charactherizing the nanofibers. The electrospun nanofibers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for morphological analysis. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) was performed to detect the molecular interactions between the components. Thermal properties were investigated using differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). Tensile strength of the nanofibers was analysed by tensile tesing machine. Drug release test was performed by UV spectroscopy. The morphological test results showed that electrospun nanofibers had smooth and beadless morphology and nanofiber diameters increased as the crosslinking time increased. FT-IR test results proved the interaction between PVA, GEL and GEN components. The thermal characterization results reported that crosslinking effected the thermal points. The tensile testing results proved that crosslinking enhanced the mechanical strength of the nanofibers. In the drug release study, GEN was released faster from non-crosslinked nanofibers. There was no significant difference between crosslinked groups.