An in vitro examination of the antioxidant, cytoprotective and anti-inflammatory properties of chrysin-loaded nanofibrous mats for potential wound healing applications

Chrysin (Chr) is a naturally occurring flavone with a wide spectrum of biological functions including anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties. Due to the low bioavailability and in vivo stability of Chr at therapeutic levels for wound-healing applications, Chr-loaded PCL/PEG nanofibrous mats were successfully fabricated by optimizing the electrospinning parameters and characterized using FE-SEM and FTIR. Results of MTT showed that Human foreskin fibroblast cells (HFF-1) have more than 80% viability on Chr-loaded nanofibers. The antioxidant activity of Chr-loaded PCL/PEG electrospun nanofibers was demonstrated applying an ORAC assay and by the capability of the nanofibers to maintain the viability of HFF-1 cells on the mats under an oxidative stress condition. The Chr-blended PCL/PEG nanofibrous mats also reduced overexpression of IL-6, IL-1 beta, TNF-alpha and excessive production of nitric oxide (NO) in J774A1 following stimulation by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). These results suggest that the proposed natural substance based nanofibrous mats can accelerate wound healing process with cell proliferation, antioxidative and anti-inflammatory activities.