Seyede Sahar Hashemi - Student Research Committee, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran
Mahmoud Najari - Student Research Committee, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran
Milad Parvin - Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, School of Dentistry, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran
Mohammad Mehdi Kalani - Department of Life Science Engineering, Faculty of New Sciences and Technologies, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
Majid Assadi - Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Research Center, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran
Ramin Seyedian - Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran
Sasan Zaeri - Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran

Objective(s): Knowing the detrimental role of oxidative stress in wound healing and the anti-oxidant properties of Dexpanthenol (Dex), we aimed to produce Dex-loaded electrospun core/shell nanofibers for wound healing study. The novelty was measuring oxidative stress in wounds to know how oxidative stress was affected by Dex-loaded fibers.Materials and Methods: TPVA solution containing Dex ۶% (w/v) (core) and PVA/chitosan solution (shell) were coaxially electrospun with variable injection rates of the shell solution. Fibers were then tested for physicochemical properties, drug release profile, and effects on wound healing. Levels of tissue lipid peroxidation and superoxide dismutase activity were measured.Results: Fibers produced at shell injection rate of ۰.۳ ml/hr (F۳ fibers) showed core/shell structure with an average diameter of ۲۵۲ nm, high hydrophilicity (swelling: ۱۵۷% at equilibrium), and low weight loss (۱۳.۶%). Dex release from F۳ fibers seemed to be ruled by the Fickian mechanism based on the Korsmeyer-Peppas model (R۲ = ۰.۹۴, n = ۰.۳۷). Dex-loaded F۳ fibers promoted fibroblast viability (۱۲۸.۴%) significantly on day ۵ and also accelerated wound healing compared to the neat F۳ fibers at macroscopic and microscopic levels on day ۱۴ post-wounding. The important finding was a significant decrease in malondialdehyde (۰.۳۹ nmol/ mg protein) level and an increase in superoxide dismutase (۵.۲۹ unit/mg protein) activity in Dex-loaded F۳ fiber-treated wound tissues. Conclusion: Dex-loaded core/shell fibers provided nano-scale scaffolds with sustained release profile that significantly lowered tissue oxidative stress. This finding pointed to the importance of lowering oxidative stress to achieve proper wound healing.

Core/shell nanofiber, Dexpanthenol, Fibroblast, Mouse, Oxidative stress, Wound healing