Green Synthesis of Polycyclodextrin/Drug Inclusion Complex Nanofibrous Hydrogels: pH-Dependent Release of Acyclovir

The development of an approach or a material for woundhealingtreatments has drawn a lot of attention for decades and has been animportant portion of the research in the medical industry. Especially,there is growing interest and demand for the generation of woundcare products using eco-friendly conditions. Electrospinning is oneof these methods that enables the production of nanofibrous materialswith attractive properties for wound healing under mild conditionsand by using sustainable sources. In this study, starch-derived cyclodextrin(hydroxypropyl-& beta;-cyclodextrin (HP & beta;CD)) was used both forforming an inclusion complex (IC) with acyclovir, a well-known antiviraldrug, and for electrospinning of free-standing nanofibers. The nanofiberswere produced in an aqueous system, without using a carrier polymermatrix and toxic solvent/chemical. The ultimate HP & beta;CD/acyclovir-ICnanofibers were thermally cross-linked by using citric acid, listedin the generally regarded as safe (GRAS) category by the US Food andDrug Administration (FDA). The cross-linked HP & beta;CD/acyclovir-ICnanofibers displayed stability in aqueous medium. The hydrogel-formingfeature of nanofibers was confirmed with their high swelling profilein water in the range of & SIM;610-810%. Cellulose acetate(CA)/acyclovir nanofibers were also produced as the control sample.Due to inclusion complexation with HP & beta;CD, the solubility ofacyclovir was improved, so cross-linked HP & beta;CD/acyclovir-IC nanofibroushydrogels displayed a better release performance compared to CA/acyclovirnanofibers. Here, a pH-dependent release profile was obtained (pH5.4 and pH 7.4) besides their attractive swelling features. Therefore,the cross-linked HP & beta;CD/acyclovir-IC nanofibrous hydrogel canbe a promising candidate as a wound healing dressing for the administrationof antiviral drugs by holding the unique properties of CD and electrospunnanofibers.