Abstract

In spite of the emerging advances in the field of wound dressings, there is still a deep need for the development of novel natural based dressings to offer a safe alternative for traditional wound dressings and most importantly fight against antibacterial resistance. The aim of this study is to develop novel honey based nanofibrous wound dressing for achieving both effective and safe treatment and investigate the dressings for antibacterial activity, cytotoxicity and in vivo wound healing effect in a rat wound model. Natural products; Honey, Pomegranate peel extract (PPP), and bee venom (BV), known for their antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, were used in combination with Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), to develop a novel natural-based nanofibrous wound dressing. Methanolic pomegranate peel extract was prepared and mixed with either Manuka honey (MH) or lyophilized multiflora honey powder (LH). By testing electrospun samples: (10% MH/ 1% PPP), (20% MH/ 2% PPP) and (25%/ 2.5%PPP) against S. aureus, it was shown that antibacterial activity increases with increasing the MH/PPP concentration. BV was added to the honey/PPP combination to prepare (25 % MH/2.5 % PPP/ 0.01%BV) and (25 % LH/2.5 % PPP/0.01% BV) nanofibers. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that all samples had good morphology with no beads. Samples showed moderate swelling capacity in comparison to PVA while all samples showed better water loss capacity than PVA. Antibacterial tests showed significant antibacterial activity against both strains tested compared to both controls used (P< 0.0001). Against S. aureus, samples containing BV were slightly more effective than the sample without BV (P < 0.05). Against E. coli, sample (MH/PPP/BV) was slightly more effective than sample (LH/PPP/BV) (P < 0.05). In the cytotoxicity assay, all samples showed 100 - 120 % viability which indicated that the produced dressings have no significant cytotoxic effects. Results of the in vivo wound healing assay showed that treatment groups (25% MH/2.5%PPP), (25% MH/2.5%PPP/ 0.01 %BV), and (25% LH/2.5 %PPP/ 0.01% BV) had a significantly decreased wound surface areas compared to both controls at days 3 and day 5 (P <0.0001). All treatment groups reached complete healing by day 10 compared to day 14 in the case of both controls. On the histological side, PVA control group showed poor healing compared to all treatment groups. MH/PPP/BV sample micrographs showed excellent healing at day 10 resembling intact skin as shown by histological assessment. These results indicate that MH/PPP/BV combination can be considered as a promising formula to promote wound healing. However, further analysis is required to confirm the results and address the potential of the combination on more challenging wounds.

Department

Biotechnology Program

Degree Name

MS in Biotechnology

Graduation Date

2-1-2019

Submission Date

August 2018

First Advisor

Azzazy, Hassan

Committee Member 1

Abdel-Latif, Ahmed

Committee Member 2

El-Ghobashy, Medhat

Extent

96 p.

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Rights

The author retains all rights with regard to copyright. The author certifies that written permission from the owner(s) of third-party copyrighted matter included in the thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study has been obtained. The author further certifies that IRB approval has been obtained for this thesis, or that IRB approval is not necessary for this thesis. Insofar as this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study is an educational record as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 USC 1232g), the author has granted consent to disclosure of it to anyone who requests a copy.

Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval

Not necessary for this item

Comments

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all who contributed in my thesis project. First, I would like to thank my thesis supervisor Dr. Hassan Azzazy for his guidance and support during thesis work. I would like to thank him for believing in my ideas, supporting my research and allowing me to learn and grow as a scientist. I am extremely thankful to all the time and effort he spent on guiding me. Also I would like to thank my co-supervisor Dr. Ahmad Abdel-Latif for his support, Kindness and patience throughout the project. I couldn’t have done anything without his continuous support and encouragement. In addition, I would like to express my thanks and gratitude to Nano-ebers LLC, where I learned a lot and grew as a researcher. I truly appreciate joining the promising startup company. I had the opportunity of gaining knowledge not only on developing biocompatible nano-fibrous wound dressings but also i am gaining an experience on how to deliver the startup’s products to the market. This has been an exciting experience that I was honored to be a part of. I would also like to thank all the professors in the Biotechnology program who have been a true role model for me, taught me and allowed me to have a strong base knowledge in Biotechnology. My deep appreciation goes to my colleagues for always offering advice and help which has helped me a lot in my thesis work. I’m sincerely grateful to Diana Samy, Razan Msaad, Nagruess Marei, Myret Ghabriel, Sara Hassan, Salma Elshafei, James Kegere, Nancy Ahmad, Sara Kamel and Hagar Nofal for their scientific advice and help in the laboratory work. I would like to thank Amgad Ouaf for helping me while i was still learning the antibacterial tests. Special thanks goes to Marina Nabil for her help and encouragement while I was doing the antibacterial tests. I would also like to thank all the lab members and colleagues for all the interesting discussions we had which resulted in a productive knowledge transfer between us. Last but not least, I would to express my extreme gratitude and appreciation to Alalfi foundation for funding my studies. I am honored to be the recipient of this scholarship and extremely grateful for all the efforts made by the foundation. In addition, i would like to express my gratitude to the AUC for providing the research grant that funded this research project and for partially funding my studies through the laboratory instruction fellowship.

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