Development of histamine reinforced poly(vinyl alcohol)/chitosan blended films for potential biomedical applications

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/chitosan (CS) blends represent one of the most studied bicomponent systems constituted between a natural biomacromolecule and an easily biodegradable synthetic polymer. Yet, in order to control and improve the physical, hydrolytic, and mechanical stability of these systems, by adding safe linkers to bind the free hydrophilic groups, there is much work to be done. In the present work, histamine (H) reinforced PVA/CS tri-components blended films have been developed via casting from solution technique. Before casting, rheology measurements were conducted on the studied solutions, then, all the PVA/CS/H matrices were subjected to FTIR studies, scanning electron microscopy, contact angle, water absorption capacity, surface roughness measurements, antimicrobial, and in-vitro biocompatibility studies. Results of the morphological studies showed that pores were uniformly dispersed on the matrix while the surface roughness increased in the films when a higher ratio of histamine was used. The studies revealed significant enhancement in the water absorption capacity of the histamine reinforced blends compared with the pristine PVA/CS film. Cellular behavior studies performed on epithelial (MCF line 7) cells revealed comparable proliferative and adhesion activity of tri-component PVA/CS/H films compared to that of pristine PVA/CS films.