In Vivo Evaluation of Chitosan-Titanium Dioxide Nanopowder as Wound Dressing Material.

Background: Films used for wound healing have many advantages, but should be flexible, robust, adherable and prevent maceration. Both Chitosan (CS) and Titanium dioxide nanopowder (TiO2 NP) have good properties to accelerate wound healing and can be used in preparing films.

Objective: CS and TiO2 NP are combined to formulate films for wound healing. The physical, thermal, chemical, and mechanical characteristics of these films are to be assessed. The antibacterial activity of the films and their performance on wounded rats will be explored.

Methods: Films made of CS and TiO2 NP were characterized by FTIR, TGA, DSC, XRD, and SEM. The films' mechanical characteristics and antimicrobial activity were tested. Films with acceptable mechanical properties were evaluated on rats.

Results: Generally, CS-TiO2 films had higher weight and thickness but lowered flexibility compared to films prepared using CS only. The chosen film showed excellent folding endurance with weight and thickness of around 21.98 mg and 0.16 mm. The surface pH for CS-TiO2 films was acidic, and for the selected film, it was 5.18. CS-TiO2 film was active against all studied bacteria and significantly higher than CS films. The antimicrobial activity of Gram-negative bacteria (P. aeruginosa and E. coli) was higher than that of Gram-positive bacteria (S. aureus). Finally, adding TiO2 NP to the films accelerated the healing process of the created wounds in a murine model, compared to control and CS-treated groups.

Conclusion: Films of TiO2 NP and CS have suitable properties to be used in wound healing and can be further used in the future to load drugs.