Electrospun dual flavonoid-loaded polyacrylonitrile nanofibers for accelerated diabetic wound healing via NF-κB and TNF-α modulation.

Abstract

Diabetic wound is marked by chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, and poor tissue regeneration, requiring novel wound dressings. In this work, electrospun nanofibers of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) loaded with apigenin and naringenin as an effective strategy to promote diabetic wound healing have been developed. Characterization of the optimized nanofibers was performed using physicochemical, mechanical, surface, and biological methods, after which the wound healing activity of the nanofibers in a diabetic wound model induced by streptozotocin and nicotinamide was evaluated. The prepared nanofibers demonstrated a smooth structure, high content of drugs (91.2 ± 3.4% apigenin, 87.6 ± 2.8% naringenin), good mechanical stability, increased hydrophilicity (58.4 ± 2.1°), biphasic drug release pattern, high biocompatibility, and antioxidant properties. In vivo experiments revealed that the nanofibers accelerate wound healing and lead to wound closure of 96.47 ± 3.23% on day 14 along with enhanced epithelialization, collagen synthesis, and inhibition of NF-κB and TNF-α expression.