3D printed bioengineered scaffold containing chitosan, alginate, and Barijeh-loaded niosomes enabled efficient antibiofilm activity and wound healing
Ali Bidaki, Niloufar Rezaei, Sara Kazemi, Saba Naeimaei Ali, Seyedehrozhin Ziaei, Alaa Moeinzadeh, Fatemeh Hosseini, Hassan Noorbazargan, Ahmad Reza Farmani, Qun Ren
Abstract
In this study, we developed a novel biocompatible wound scaffold by encapsulating Barijeh (Bar), a plant-derived antibacterial compound, with niosome (Nio). The Nio-Bar formulation was incorporated into a chitosan (CS) and alginate (AL) hydrogel mixture, followed by 3D printing to create a three-dimensional scaffold, namely Nio-Bar@CS-AL. The obtained scaffold showed notable degradation, reaching 68 % (w/w) within 14 days. Nio-Bar@CS-AL displayed strong antibacterial activity and led to a >5-log reduction of both Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus, far surpassing the performance of CS-AL scaffolds. Further, it effectively reduced biofilm formation by 74 %-80 % for both pathogens, and showed no cytotoxicity toward human fibroblast (HFF) cells, ensuring safety for wound application. In an in vivo murine wound model, Nio-Bar@CS-AL facilitated over 90 % wound healing after 10-day. Tissue integration was signaled by a twofold increase of TGF-β expression and a reduction of IL-6 expression to near-baseline levels, thereby mitigating inflammation. Histopathological analysis revealed a much higher collagen deposition, a key indicator of effective healing, in scaffold-treated wounds compared to the control. These results suggest that Nio-Bar@CS-AL holds promising clinical potential for treating wound infections and defects, offering a multifaceted strategy to improve wound healing outcomes.