Implantation of sustained antibacterial system after abdominal surgery could effectively prevent complicated intra-abdominal infection. In this study, a simple blended electrospun membrane made of poly(d,l-lactic-co-glycolide) (PLGA)/poly(dioxanone) (PDO)/Ciprofloxacin hydrochloride (CiH) could easily result in approximately linear drug release profile and sustained antibacterial activity against both Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli). The addition of PDO changed the stack structure of PLGA, which in turn influenced the fiber swelling and created drug diffusion channels. It could be a good candidate for reducing postoperative infection or be associated with other implant to resist biofilm formation.Keywords: antibacterial activity; bicomponent; control release; electrospinning; intra-abdominal infections

•Highly porous structure facilitated the diffusion of soluble degraded products.•The structural integrity and the fibrous morphology were well maintained.•The electrospun PDLGA/PDLA-b-PEG scaffolds had good biocompatibility in vivo.•The electrospun PDLGA/PDLA-b-PEG scaffolds degraded faster in vivo than in vitro.•Faster degradation rate in pigs than in rats was observed.Study of the degradation behavior of implants is of crucial importance in biomedical fields before practical applications. In this study, degradability of poly (DL-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PDLGA)/poly (DL-lactide)-block-poly (ethylene glycol) (PDLA-b-PEG) scaffolds was evaluated both in vitro and in vivo. In vitro degradation of fibrous scaffolds showed that highly porous structure facilitated the diffusion of soluble degraded products out of the scaffolds. The electrospun scaffolds could maintain the structural integrity and the fibrous morphology in vitro for 8 weeks and during the wound healing process in vivo. When implanted in vivo, the scaffolds had good biocompatibility and degraded faster than in vitro. Long term study of degradation in rats showed that the scaffolds were totally degraded and absorbed. Faster degradation in pigs than in rats might due to the surgical condition and difference of physiological environment between rats and pigs, such as wound area, hemorrhage, the local motion and inflammatory reaction. The interaction between the scaffolds and the surrounding tissues would also influence the degradation of the implants.

A strategy of using a gold nanorod (GNR)-loaded electrospun membrane as a photothermal therapy platform of cancer is reported. The strategy takes both the advantages of the excellent photothermal properties of GNRs to selectively kill the cancerous cells, and the widely used biodegradable electrospun membrane to serve as GNR-carrier and surgical recovery material. PEG modified GNRs were embedded into the electrospun fibrous membrane which was composed of PLGA and PLA-b-PEG with an 85:15 ratio. After incubation with the cells in the cell culture medium, the PEG-GNRs were released from the membrane and taken up by cancer cells, allowing the generation of heat upon NIR irradiation to induce cancer cell death. We have demonstrated that the use of PEG-GNR-embedded membrane selectively killed the cancerous cells and effectively inhibited cancer cell proliferation though in vitro experiments. The PEG-GNRs-loaded membrane is a promising material for postsurgical recovery of cancer.Keywords: biodegradable membrane; cancer; electrospun; PEGylated gold nanorods; photothermal therapy;

A multiple targeted drug carrying bilayer membrane for preventing an abdominal adhesion is prepared by electrospinning. Two bioactive drugs were successfully incorporated into this bilayer membrane and can be independently released from nanofibrous scaffolds without losing structural integrity and functionality of the anti-adhesion membrane. Besides, the drug release profile could be easily adjusted by optimizing the swelling behavior of the fibrous scaffold. The inner layer of the bilayered fibrous membranes loaded with carbazochrome sodium sulfonate (CA) showed an excellent vascular hemostatic efficacy and formed little clot during in vivo experiment. The outer layer loaded with tinidazole (TI) had outstanding antibacterial effect against the anaerobe. We believe this approach could serve as a model technique to guide the design of implants with drug delivery functions.