Electrospun Cellulose Acetate Fiber Mats Containing Emodin with Potential for Use as Wound Dressing

Emodin, an active herbal substance for use in wound healing extracted from the plant Polygonum cuspidatum p.e, was successfully encapsulated in ultra-fine cellulose acetate (CA) fiber mats via the electrospinning technique. Various amounts of loading herb within CA fibers (0.005 % wt. to 0.1 % wt.) were prepared. Smooth fiber morphologies and an average fiber diameter in a range of 344 nm to 368 nm were observed by a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The release characteristics of emodin from the emodin-loaded fiber mats were investigated in phosphate buffer saline solution (PBS) containing methanol at 10 % v/v at 37 degrees C by the total immersion method. The results showed that the release behaviors of emodin depended on the amount of the loading herb. The maximum amounts of herb release were about 41 %, 76 % and 88 %, relative to the amount of loading herb at 0.01, 0.05 and 0.1 %, respectively. In addition, the potential use of the emodin-loaded fiber mats as carriers for topical delivery of emodin or as a wound dressing was evaluated with human dermal fibroblast-adult (HDFa) cells in terms of indirect cytotoxicity and direct cell culture. Furthermore, the synthesized collagen of HDFa cells, which were cultured on these fiber mats was also evaluated. The results revealed that the level of collagen synthesis depended on the dose of emodin that was incorporated in the CA fibers.