Fabrication of geraniol nanophytosomes loaded into polyvinyl alcohol: A new product for the treatment of wounds infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

The current study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of geraniol nanophytosomes in accelerating the healing process of wounds infected with Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in a mouse model. The physicochemical properties confirmed physical properties and successful synthesis of the nanophytosomes. Wounds were induced and mice (n = 90) were treated with a base ointment (negative control group) and/or mupirocin (positive control) and also formulations prepared from geraniol (GNL), geraniol nanophytosomes (NPhs-GNL), and PVA/NPhs-GNL. Wound contraction, total bacterial count, pathological parameters and the expressions of bFGF, CD31 and COL1A were also assessed. The results showed that topical administration of mupirocin and PVA/NPhs/GNL increased wound contraction, fibroblast and epithelization and also the expressions of bFGF, CD31 and COL1A while decreased the expression of total bacterial count and edema compared with negative control mice (P = 0.001). The results also showed that PVA/NPhs-GNL and mupirocin could compete and PVA/NPhs-GNL formulation was safe. In conclusion, the prepared formulations accelerated the wound healing process by modulation in proliferative genes. Geraniol nanophytosomes loaded into PVA could improve the healing in infected full -thickness wounds healing process and can be used for the treatment of infected wounds after future clinical studies.