Abstract

ABSTRACT

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a cellulose free of lignin and hemicellulose and present a 3-D network composed by bundles of much finer microfibrils of nanometric size. BC is an interesting emerging biomaterial, since it offers a wide range of applications, especially for medical applications, such as wound dressing of second- or thirddegree burn ulcers, artificial microvessels, and tissue engineering of cartilage and bone. In this way, by considering the wound healing properties of BC, a mechanism for pressing the BC membrane in the shape of a contact lens was developed in our laboratory. In order to improve the therapeutic potential of the future lens the BC membranes were impregnated with ciprofloxacin (CPX) with and without 2 -Hydroxypropyl-ƒ×-cyclodextrin (ƒ×CD) through a simple and efficient approach. Pure and impregnated membranes were tested to verify their cytotoxicity, genotoxicity or mutagenicity effects. The incorporation of the ƒ×CD and the drug CPX were confirmed by Raman analysis. Drug release profile demonstrated that BC membranes incorporated with CD released the drugs more slowly. The membranes of pure BC, BC-CD and BC-CD-CPX showed no cytotoxicity, genotoxicity or mutagenicity effects. Otherwise, the BC-CPX membrane was only cytotoxic. In conclusion, except for BC-CPX, the investigated materials are promising for biomedical applications, especially as a contact lens used for regeneration or protection against bacteria.

Keywords: Bacterial cellulose, ciprofloxacin, cyclodextrin, contact lens, mutagenesis, toxicity.