Studies on Synergistic Effect of Curcumin, Piperine and Ellagic Acid on Antibacterial Properties of Biocompatible Nanofibers Based on Polycaprolactone

The fabrication of electrospun nanofibers for drug delivery applications has attracted a great attention in recent years. Polycaprolactone (PCL) is a polymer which has been used frequently in medical and tissue engineering applications. However, the hydrophobic nature of PCL is a drawback which could be resolved by biological materials. The synergistic effect of piperine and ellagic acid on different properties and performance of curcumin containing nanofiber mats has been investigated.

Nanofibers based on PCL with certain amounts of plant extracts were prepared and produced through electrospinning. In order to investigate the effect of each plant extract, single systems containing curcumin or piperine, dual systems containing curcumin/piperine and triple systems containing curcumin/piperine/ellagic acid were produced by electrospinning and various analyses were performed to find out whether they were effective in improving the properties of fiber prepared for medical applications.

The study on microstructure of electrospun mats showed that the diameter distribution of nanofibers was between 50-100 nm and the average fiber diameter in single, double and triple samples changed in the range of 73-87 nm. The antibacterial test revealed that piperine is also an active antibacterial agent like curcumin. In addition, the triple system had a good degree of antibacterial activity (79%). The water uptake and water vapor permeability (WVP) of triple samples were about 337% and 11.56 mg(cm2.h)-1, respectively. The prepared mats showed desirable tensile strength, elasticity and flexibility. Cell viability analysis on electrospun mats indicated that they are not toxic to human dermal fibroblasts (HDF). Therefore, taking into account all the results, it can be concluded that the use of two compounds, ellagic acid and piperine, is effective in increasing the bioavailability of curcumin, and the mats can be used in medical applications as wound dressings..