Long-Term Effect against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus of Emodin Released from Coaxial Electrospinning Nanofiber Membranes with a Biphasic Profile

• Published in: Biomolecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 10; no. 3; p. 362
• Main Authors: Ye, Peiwen, Wei, Suying, Luo, Chaohua, Wang, Qirui, Li, Anzhang, Wei, Fenghuan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 27.02.2020; MDPI
• Subjects: Anti-Bacterial Agents - administration & dosage; Anti-Bacterial Agents - chemistry; Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; Cell Line; coaxial electrospinning; Drug Delivery Systems; Drug Liberation; emodin; Emodin - administration & dosage; Emodin - chemistry; Emodin - pharmacology; Health aspects; Humans; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus - drug effects; mrsa; nanofiber; Nanofibers - chemistry; Nanofibers - ultrastructure; Staphylococcal Infections - drug therapy; Staphylococcus aureus; China; coaxial electrospinning; MRSA; nanofiber; emodin
• ISSN: 2218-273X; 2218-273X
• DOI: 10.3390/biom10030362

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a serious and rapidly growing threat to human beings. Emodin has a potent activity against MRSA; however, its usage is limited due to high hydrophobicity and low oral bioavailability. Thus, the coaxial electrospinning nanofibers encapsulating emodin in the core of hydrophilic poly (vinylpyrrolidone), with a hygroscopic cellulose acetate sheath, have been fabricated to provide long-term effect against MRSA. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy confirmed the nanofibers had a linear morphology with nanometer in diameter, smooth surface, and core-shell structure. Attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectra, X-ray diffraction patterns, and differential scanning calorimetric analyses verified emodin existed in amorphous form in the nanofibers. The nanofibers have 99.38 ± 1.00% entrapment efficiency of emodin and 167.8 ± 0.20% swelling ratio. Emodin released from nanofibers showed a biphasic drug release profile with an initial rapid release followed by a slower sustained release. CCK-8 assays confirmed the nontoxic nature of the emodin-loaded nanofibers to HaCaT cells. The anti-MRSA activity of the nanofibers can persist up to 9 days in AATCC147 and soft-agar overlay assays. These findings suggest that the emodin-loaded electrospun nanofibers with core-shell structure could be used as topical drug delivery system for wound infected by MRSA.