TY - JOUR
T1 - Controlled Release of Natural Antibacterial Drug Loaded by Silk Biomaterials
AU - Chao-Heng He, Zhao-Zhu Zheng, Jue Zhang, Gang Li  & Xiao-Qin Wang
JO - Journal of Fiber Bioengineering and Informatics
VL - 2
SP - 77
EP - 90
PY - 2017
DA - 2017/05
SN - 10
DO - http://doi.org/10.3993/jfbim00265
UR - https://global-sci.org/intro/article_detail/jfbi/10613.html
KW - Silk fibroin
KW - Berberine
KW - Film
KW - Antibacterial
KW - Drug delivery system
AB - A significant challenge still remains for the development of drug delivery system (DDS) using herbal
medicine for clinical applications. The present study describes a novel DDS consisting of a natural
antibacterial drug berberine and silk fibroin (SF) for controlled drug delivery application. Composite
films were synthesized using of SF and berberine mixtures at varied ratios. The unique structural
features of SF molecules were analyzed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and
differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) during different film processing and post-processing conditions.
Results revealed that water-annealed and glycerol modified method accurately controlled crystallization
via modification of the secondary structure of the SF matrix and interaction with the non-crystalline
domains, resulting in control of film degradation as well as drug diffusion rate. A linear relationship
between crystallinity content (beta-sheet dominated silk II structure) and the release of entrapped
berberine was achieved. The initial antibacterial activity of berberine retained for 4 days. The stability
of the drug in SF film enhanced the intermolecular interactions between SF and berberine molecules. In
conclusion, the composite materials consisting of SF and berberine have a great potential application as
a DDS providing antimicrobial activities, such as antimicrobial suture and biomedical textiles.