ABSTRACT
A freeze-dried gel composed of surface-deacetylated chitin nanofibers (SDACNFs), reinforced with an anionic cyclodextrin, sulfobutyl ether ß-cyclodextrin (SBE-ß-CD) was evaluated for treating wounds in a rat model, and the results were compared with a SDACNFs gel without SBE-ß-CD. The incorporation of prednisolone (PD), a poorly water-soluble drug, in both types of gels and its release from the gels were also compared. In both cases, wound areas were decreased and their effect was higher than that of commercially available wound dressings. The rate of release of PD from the freeze-dried SDACNFs/SBE-ß-CD was much faster than that form SDACNFs alone without SBE-ß-CD, due to fact that the PD is more soluble in the amorphous SBE-ß-CD complex compared to the other preparations. The findings indicate that the freeze-dried SDACNFs/SBE-ß-CD gel would be beneficial as a new biomaterial for the treatment of wounds and for preparing homogeneous high-content gels that contain poorly water-soluble drugs.
