Structure, performance and tissue repair evaluation of biodegradable core-sheath fiber patch loaded with curcumin nano-micelles

In this paper, curcumin nanomicelles (Cur@M) were uniformly encapsulated in the core-sheath polylactic acid (PLA) fibers using coaxial electrospinning technology, and the structure and properties were adjusted by post-processing to develop a multifunctional tissue repair patch. The optimized patch demonstrated sustained curcumin release, hydrophilic surface, enhanced mechanical strength and predicable degradation. The patch had excellent biocompatibility and exhibited significant anti-inflammatory efficacy by polarizing pro-inflammatory M1 macrophages to anti-inflammatory M2 phenotypes while inhibiting the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO). In vivo evaluation showed that the patch was able to promote the regeneration of defective tissue while providing biomechanical strength comparable to that of natural autologous tissue. The therapeutic mechanism involves M2 macrophage-mediated anti-inflammatory response and enhanced synthesis of type I collagen (COL1), which is critical for tissue repair. This multifunctional patch shows significant potential in biomedical applications, especially in pelvic floor reconstruction and soft tissue engineering.