Wound dressings have experienced continuous and significant changes since the ancient times. The development starts with the use of natural materials to simply cover the wounds to the materials of the present time that could be specially made to exhibit various extraordinary functions. The modern bandage materials made of electrospun biopolymers contain various active compounds that are beneficial to the healing of wounds. These materials are fibrous in nature, with the size of fibers segments ranging from tens of nanometers to micrometers. With the right choices of biopolymers used for these fibrous materials, they could enhance the healing of wounds significantly compared with the conventional fibrous dressing materials, such as gauze. These bandages could be made such that they contain bioactive ingredients, such as antimicrobial, antibacterial, and antiinflammatory agents, which could be released to the wounds enhancing their healing. In an active wound dressing (AWD), the main purpose is to control the biochemical states of a wound in order to aid its healing process. This review provides an overview of different types of wounds, effective parameters in wound healing and different types of wound dressing materials with a special emphasis paid to those prepared by electrospinning.

The use of herbal drugs as biocompatible and nontoxic drugs without special side effects in wound dressings are highly favored compared to that of chemical and synthetic drugs. In this study, the properties and performance of electrospun poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCL), poly(lactic acid) (PLA), and their 50/50 hybrid nanofibrous mats containing the herbal drug thymol (1.2% v/v) as wound dressings were investigated. The optimized solution concentrations of PCL (12% w/v) and PLA (3% w/v) in chloroform/dimethylformamide (7:3) for electrospinning were determined with viscometry and scanning electron microscopy studies to obtain smooth and beadless nanofibers. The results of the drug‐release behavior along with swelling tests showed that the electrospun 50/50 PCL/PLA hybrid nanofibers had the highest level of drug release (∼ 72%) compared with the PCL and PLA nanofibrous samples. The release kinetics of thymol from PCL, PLA, and 50/50 PCL/PLA hybrid nanofibrous mats were studied by the Peppas equation and the zero‐order, first‐order, Higuchi, and Hixon–Crowell models. Antibacterial evaluations showed that the electrospun 50/50 PCL/PLA hybrid nanofibrous samples containing thymol had satisfactory effects on Staphylococcus aureus compared with Escherichia coli bacteria during the treatment periods. In vivo rat wound‐healing and histological performance observations of thymol‐loaded 50/50 PCL/PLA nanofibrous mats, the commercial wound dressing Comfeel Plus, and gauze bandages (control) after 14‐day post‐treatment periods were evaluated. The results reveal that the electrospun 50/50 PCL/PLA hybrid nanofibers containing thymol had a remarkable wound‐closure percentage of about 92.5% after a period of 14 days. Finally, the crystallinity and thermal behavior of the electrospun 50/50 PCL/PLA hybrid nanofibrous mats with and without thymol were studied by differential scanning calorimetry. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013

Cancer has become one of the most difficult health challenges of our time, accounting for millions of deaths yearly. Systemic chemotherapy is the most common therapeutic approach; however, considerable limitations exist including toxicities to healthy tissues and low achievable drug concentrations at tumor sites. More than 85% of human cancers are solid tumors, which can greatly benefit from localized delivery. This approach allows for high drug concentrations at the target site, lower systemic toxicity, and extended drug exposure which may be beneficial for cell cycle-specific drugs. Polymers have been widely considered in the development of localized delivery systems. This review focuses on both natural and synthetic biodegradable polymers that have been explored for localized chemotherapy, exploring their advantages, disadvantages, and clinical potential while citing examples of their use in pre-clinical development.

Cervical cancer is the third most common cancer in women worldwide. In the present study, global microRNA profiling for 79 cervical cancer patient samples led to the identification of miR-218 down-regulation in cervical cancer tissues compared to normal cervical tissues. Lower miR-218 expression was associated significantly with worse overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and pelvic/aortic lymph node recurrence. In vitro, miR-218 over-expression decreased clonogenicity, migration, and invasion. Survivin (BIRC5) was subsequently identified as an important cervical cancer target of miR-218 using in silico prediction, mRNA profiling, and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Concordant with miR-218 over-expression, survivin knockdown by siRNA decreased clonogenicity, migration, and invasion. YM155, a small molecule survivin inhibitor, significantly suppressed tumor growth and lymph node metastasis in vivo. Our findings demonstrate that the miR-218~survivin axis inhibits cervical cancer progression by regulating clonogenicity, migration, and invasion, and suggest that the inhibition of survivin could be a potential therapeutic strategy to improve outcome in this disease.

ABSTRACT:In this article, we present the drug-release rate, water uptake, water permeability, morphology, and mechanical properties of a series of active wound dressing nanofibrous mats prepared via an electrospinning process of poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL), and their (50/50) blends loaded with different doses of tetracycline hydrochloride antibiotic. The performance of these active wound dressings in terms of a sustained and suitable drug-release rate, adequate water uptake and water permeability, and antibacterial activities were compared with those of a commercial wound dressing (Comfeel Plus). The results show that the dressings made from PCL and PLA/PCL blends showed better performance compared with the commercial wound dressing sample as far as these properties were concerned. The improved performance could be explained on the basis of the nanofibrous structure of the mats and the hydrophilicity of PCL and PLA.