Electrospun polyvinyl alcohol fibres incorporating an antimicrobial gel for enzymatically controlled reactive oxygen species release

Mieles, Joel, Vyas, Cian ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6030-1962, Daskalakis, Evangelos, Hassan, Mohamed, Birkett, James, Omar, Abdalla, Humphreys, Gavin, Diver, Carl ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8743-1182 and Bartolo, Paulo (2024) Electrospun polyvinyl alcohol fibres incorporating an antimicrobial gel for enzymatically controlled reactive oxygen species release. Bio-Design and Manufacturing, 7 (6). pp. 899-925. ISSN 2096-5524

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Abstract

Wounds pose a risk to the skin, our body’s primary defence against infections. The rise of antibiotic resistance has prompted the development of novel therapies. RO-101® is an antimicrobial gel that delivers therapeutic levels of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), a reactive oxygen species, directly to the wound bed. In this study, electrospinning was used to incorporate RO-101® into a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) submicron fibrous mesh that can act as a delivery agent, achieve a sustained release profile, and provideabarrieragainstinfection.Adequateincorporationofthisgelintosubmicronfibreswasconfirmedvianuclearmagnetic resonance spectroscopy. Furthermore, scanning electron microscopy exhibited smooth and uniform meshes with diameters in the200–500nmrange.PVA/RO-101electrospunmeshesgeneratedH2O2 inconcentrationsexceeding1mM/(mL•g)(1mM= 1mmol/L)after24h,andtheroleofsterilisationonH2O2 release was evaluated. PVA/RO-101meshesexhibitedantimicrobial activity against both Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) bacteria, achieving viable count reductions of up to 1 log unit CFU/mm2 (CFU: colony-forming units).Moreover, these meshes were capable of disrupting biofilm formation, even against multidrug-resistant organisms such as methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). Furthermore, increasing the RO-101® concentration resulted in higher H2O2 production and an enhanced antimicrobial effect, while fibroblast cell viability and proliferation tests showed a concentration-dependent response with high cytocompatibility at low RO-101® concentrations. This study therefore demonstrates the potential of highly absorbent PVA/RO-101 meshes as potential antimicrobial wound dressings.