Development of wound dressing with enhanced wound healing properties: preparation of chitosan and silk sericin-incorporated bacterial cellulose

Abstract

Chitosan and silk sericin were incorporated into bacterial cellulose pellicles in order to develop a bacterial cellulose-based wound dressing having both antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. Bacterial cellulose pellicles were produced under a static culture condition. Due to its three-dimensional non-woven nanofibrilar network structure, bacterial cellulose can provide a moist environment, therefore, promoting the wound healing process. It is known that chitosan, a chitin derivative, is a polysaccharide with antimicrobial properties while, the water-soluble protein in raw silk fibers has antioxidant properties. By incorporation of chitosan and silk sericin into bacterial cellulose pellicles, a novel wound dressing with antimicrobial and antioxidant activities could be achieved. The effect of the amount of chitosan and silk sericin incorporated into bacterial cellulose pellicles on water vapor transmission rate, and antimicrobial and antioxidant activities were investigated. Moreover, the surface and cross-sectional morphologies of the chitosan and silk sericin-incorporated bacterial cellulose were examined by scanning electron microscope. The antimicrobial activities of the samples were tested against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus.