Production of Hypericum perforatum oil-loaded membranes for wound dressing material and in vitro tests.

Hypericum perforatum oil loaded electrospun polymeric wound dressing material was produced in order to be used in wound therapy. H. perforatum oil is known to have curative effect on wound-healing process. Wound dressing material was produced in two layers, upper layer of which was made of electrospun PCL nanofibres in order to maintain membrane integrity and mechanical strength, and bottom layer that is designed to be in contact with the wound was formed by electrospraying and electrospining of PEG/H. perforatum oil and PCL polymer solutions from opposite directions (concurrently). Methods such as FTIR, optical and electron microscopy, tensile tests, gas permeability tests, contact angle and swelling tests, in vitro release tests were utilized for material characterization. Encapsulation of H. perforatum oil in PEG capsules which were hold by PEG fibres among PCL fibres was confirmed. H. perforatum oil was released in controlled manner. Antimicrobial activity tests on Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli revealed that H. perforatum content exhibited antimicrobial activity on both. Material was found to be biocompatible and suitable for use as wound dressing according to the results of in vitro tests, in which L929 mouse fibroblast cell line incubated with materials for investigation of biocompatibility (WST-1) and cell-material interactions (proliferation, apoptosis/necrosis).