Fabrication of random and aligned-oriented cellulose acetate nanofibers containing betamethasone sodium phosphate: structural and cell biocompatibility evaluations

The objective of this work was to prepare electrospun cellulose acetate (CA) nanofibers containing betamethasone sodium phosphate (BSP). Two different morphologies including random and aligned orientations were rationally designed to improve the performance of samples in in vitro experiments. By comparing the CA nanofibrous samples with randomly and aligned-oriented morphologies, the scanning electron microscopy images showed that the neat aligned-oriented nanofibers with an average diameter of 180 +/- 15 nm could be obtained using a high-speed rotating collector. Subsequently, the tensile test confirmed that the aligned CA nanofibers had higher mechanical properties than that of the randomly oriented ones. Moreover, the BSP release profile obtained by UV-vis spectrophotometry depicted that the aligned samples had an initial burst release of BSP followed by a slow penetration of the drug with a gentle slope during 72 h. Furthermore, the ultimate amounts of BSP released from the random and aligned CA nanofibers into the phosphate buffer solution were 63% and 53%, respectively. Finally, human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells were seeded on both aligned and random electrospun CA nanofibrous samples containing BSP. The thiazolyl blue and hematoxylin and eosin staining results showed that the BSP-loaded nanofibers with the aligned morphology provided the most suitable environment for the cells' growth, viability, and proliferation.