Fabrication of electrospun antimicrobial nanofibers containing metronidazole using nanospider technology

Nanospider technology as a modified electrospinning technique was used for the fabrication of electrospun nanofibers based on poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) blend as drug delivery system (DDS) for metronidazole (MTZ) as an antimicrobial drug. Electrospun PVA/PEO/MTZ composite nanofibers were stabilized against disintegration in water by heating in oven at 110°C, or by soaking in isopropyl alcohol for 6 hrs. Incorporation of MTZ into electrospun nanofibers was confirmed by SEM, FT-IR spectra and TGA. The drug release results showed that the burst release was suppressed with stabilized electrospun nanofibers compared with non-stabilized ones. Electrospun PVA/PEO/MTZ composite nanofibers exhibited remarkable antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Aspergillus niger, Penicillium notatum and Aspergillus flavus which varies with the species of the tested organisms.