Application of tetracycline hydrochloride loaded-fungal chitosan and Aloe vera extract based composite sponges for wound dressing

Chitosan composite material has been used as an efficient drug carrier for potential drug delivery systems in specific cases of wound dressing management. In the present study, 0.5 g/L of the antibiotic tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) was loaded into 1% fungal chitosan (FCS) incorporated with 0.2% of Aloe vera extract (AVE). Two types of sponges were prepared, with and without AVE, such as FCS-AVE-TCH and FCS-TCH, respectively. They were characterized by UV–Visible spectrophotometer, attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A constant amount of cumulative TCH release was observed from FCS-AVE-TCH composite sponges at the phosphate buffer saline (pH 7.4), they exhibited good antibacterial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Furthermore, the Vero cells (African green monkey kidney cell line) treated by the composites showed augmented cell viability, which suggests that it could be used as a cost-effective, potential wound dressing material.