Preparation and Investigation of Gum Tragacanth/Gelatin Nanofibers for Antibacterial Drug Delivery Systems

 Based on previous studies, among all drug delivery systems, polymeric nanofibers have been used extensively. Release mechanism and rate can be tuned by changing polymer concentration, size and shape of nanofibers. In the present study, a drug delivery system was prepared by natural polymers of gum tragacanth and gelatin using electrospinning method for control delivery of imipenem/cilastatin in antibacterial applications. Nanofibers' diameters and morphology were measured by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The physicochemical properties of nanofibers' materials were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). In vitro release of drug was investigated using ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy. MTT assay was performed using L929 (NCBI C161) cell line by extraction method on nanofibers with/without drug. The antibacterial activity was performed on nanofibers against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureusbacteria. Nanofibers with concentration ratio of gum tragacanth/gelatin (80 to 20 %) were selected for further investigation. Diameters of nanofiber with/without drug were in the range of 100 and 200 nm, respectively. Also, the results confirmed that there is no possible interaction between drug and nanofiber materials. The drug release profile from nanofibers showed 82% release in 120 h. The result of MTT assay indicated that nanofibers without drug had no toxicity effects. Also cell viability of drug-loaded nanofibers has reached about 91% cell viability after 5 days. Overall, this study confirmed that this nanofiber could potentially be used as a drug carrier for antibacterial agent delivery, specifically against gram-negative bacteria without cytotoxicity effect.