Chiang Mai Journal of Science

Appropriate wound dressings for maintaining a moist wound environment, inducing re-epithelialization and protection from infection have been widely developed. Recently, many biocompatible polymers and bioactive substances have been extensively used for wound healing applications. In this study, bacterial cellulose film (BC-MPE film) and bacterial cellulose/chitosan film (BC/CH-MPE film) containing 1.56 mg/mL of mangosteen pericarp extract (MPE) were prepared. Antibacterial activity, cytotoxicity, physical and mechanical properties of the dry films were investigated. The BC film with MPE presented non-cytotoxic effect after 20 h of exposure to mouse fibroblast cell line (L929). The prepared films performed carrier of bioactive compounds that exhibited antibacterial activity against bacterial infection in burn wounds. The morphology of the films showed the characteristic of ultra-fine network structures with the entrapment of compounds. In addition, the compact structure was observed due to the rapid moisture loss during vacuum drying process. SEM images also showed that BC/CH-MPE film formed layers with chitosan entrapment causing the film to become thicker than BC-MPE film. The formation of MPE and chitosan in modified films was also confirmed by FTIR. The compact structure of BC/CH-MPE film led to the decrease in cumulative release of xanthone, WVTR and WAC. Moreover, the existence of chitosan in BC layers provided more flexible properties than the non-chitosan film. The chitosan addition demonstrated an influence of barrier film to protect the wound. Therefore, BC and chitosan were considered as suitable candidates for wound dressing material and xanthone content of MPE promoted wound healing as an effective therapeutic agent.