Development of Thai Silk Fibroin/Hyaluronic Acid Microspheres and the Application on Controlled Release of Curcumin

Abstract

Abstract. The aim of this study was to develop microspheres from Thai silk fibroin (SF) blended with hyaluronic acid (HA) for controlled release application. HA was introduced to blend with SF to enhance properties of the microspheres. The SF-based microspheres could be prepared by water in oil emulsion and glutaraldehyde crosslinking technique. The obtained microspheres contained 71-91% SF and 9-29% HA. The microspheres having higher SF content showed more stability and slower degradation rate. Then, to prove the potential of SFHA microspheres as carriers for drug delivery, curcumin was absorbed in the microspheres. All microspheres released curcumin in a controllable manner, possibly due to the hydrophobic interaction between curcumin and crystalline domain of SF. Furthermore, it was shown that HA was self-released from the microspheres. The GAcrosslinked SFHA microspheres that simultaneously and controlled released curcumin and HA could be further developed and applied as injectable drug delivery system for treatment of diseases e.g. arthritis.

Progress in the application of sustained-release drug microspheres in tissue engineering

“…aimed to prepare microspheres from Thai silkin (SF) blended with hyaluronic acid (HA), and the results showed that microspheres with a higher SF content had higher stability and slower degradation rates. In addition, in order to demonstrate the potential of use of adsorbed curcumin in the microspheres, it was finally shown that all SFHA microspheres were released drugs controlled manner [ 182 ].…”

How to Improve Physico-Chemical Properties of Silk Fibroin Materials for Biomedical Applications?—Blending and Cross-Linking of Silk Fibroin—A Review

“…Combining the properties of natural protein and polysaccharides can be a promising strategy to obtain bioactive materials with a controlled structure in the biomedical field [ 135 , 136 , 137 , 138 , 139 , 140 , 141 , 142 , 143 , 144 , 145 ]. In silk fibroin/hyaluronic acid scaffolds, increasing hyaluronic acid content significantly enhanced the water binding capacity and flexibility [ 140 ].…”

“…In in vivo studies, the hydrogels based on silk fibroin/hyaluronic acid blends presented good histocompatibility and promoted vascular-like tissue regeneration when were implanted subcutaneously in Sprague Dawley rats [ 143 ]. Regarding microspheres to the application on controlled release, the microspheres having higher silk fibroin content showed slower degradation rate and more stability [ 144 ]. Curcumin, used as an antioxidant with anticancer activity, was adsorbed in the microspheres and all microspheres released curcumin in a controllable manner.…”

“…Curcumin, used as an antioxidant with anticancer activity, was adsorbed in the microspheres and all microspheres released curcumin in a controllable manner. This was possible because of the hydrophobic interaction between curcumin and the crystalline domain of silk fibroin [ 144 ]. The silk fibroin/hyaluronic acid porous scaffolds have promise as a dermal substitute because results of Zhang et al in vitro studies showed that scaffolds could support the fibroblast cell adhesion and proliferation and showed good cytocompatibility [ 145 ].…”