Electrospinning has the capacity to create fibers of natural or synthetic polymers with dimensions that are similar to analogous fibers in native tissue. Mats consisting of fibers of these sub-micron dimensions have shown promise in provoking little immune response and in offering a habitable environment for cell proliferation. Fibrinogen is a natural protein capable of being electrospun and offers the benefit of existing as part of the natural coagulation cascade. Mats of fibrinogen could be utilized as possible hemostatic dressings or as an early scaffold for cell migration for either wound repair or tissue engineering. The addition of antibiotic into such a dressing/scaffold could prevent infection during healing/incorporation. The goal of this study was to determine any effect that the addition of the antibiotic tetracycline hydrochloride (0%, 2.5%, 5%, 10% by weight) would have on the mechanical properties of electrospun fibrinogen (110 mg/mL, 120 mg/mL, and 130 mg/mL concentrations). Also, the time release of tetracycline from electrospun fibrinogen was investigated. The results show no significant effect of tetracycline loading on the mechanical properties of electrospun fibrinogen under the conditions of this study. The results of the release study demonstrate that initial tetracycline release is dependent upon loading percentage. The release data also demonstrate that the amount of tetracycline released is approximately 20-30% of the tetracycline in the original solution and that the release occurs within approximately 4 hours, with no significant release thereafter. This study demonstrates the feasibility of tetracycline in electrospun fibrinogen for the purposes of short term drug release in fibrinogen-based technologies.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:vcu.edu/oai:scholarscompass.vcu.edu:etd-1996 |
| Date | 01 January 2004 |
| Creators | Anderson, Charles Dudley, Jr. |
| Publisher | VCU Scholars Compass |
| Source Sets | Virginia Commonwealth University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | © The Author |
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