Introduction and Objectives: As the largest organ exposed to the external environment, the skin is highly susceptible to disruption due to trauma, burns, wounds, surgical interventions, chronic diseases (e.g., diabetes), or inflammatory dermatological reactions. The aim of this study was to fabricate and characterize silk fibroin-lignin nanofiber dressings for the treatment of diabetic wounds.
Materials and Methods: Initially, silk fibroin was extracted from silkworm cocoons and nanofibers were fabricated at a voltage of 20 kV using lignin at ratios ranging from 1:5 and 1:6 and 1:7. Subsequently, the nanofibers were immersed in 96% ethanol for 30 minutes to carry out the crosslinking process. In the first step, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was employed to investigate the morphological features. Then, mechanical, physical, antioxidant, cellular, and antibacterial evaluations were performed to assess the properties of an ideal wound dressing.
Results: The results revealed that the composite fibers were uniform in structure across different ratios and possessed nanometer-scale diameters. The swelling rate of the composite samples increased from 359.99 ± 37.53% in pure silk fibroin samples to 468.37 ± 63.47%, indicating favorable stability. Antioxidant and antibacterial assays demonstrated that the addition of lignin enhanced both antioxidant and antibacterial activities. Furthermore, cell viability assessments showed that the presence of lignin did not exert any detrimental effects on the cells, and cell proliferation and growth were observed on the surface of the samples.
Conclusion: Since achieving an ideal wound dressing requires critical biological properties, these nanofibers due to their hydroxyl and methoxy phenolic groups in lignin exhibit unique advantages in physical properties, antioxidant activity, antibacterial effects, and cell adhesion. These characteristics make them a promising candidate for biomedical applications, particularly wound healing, and tissue regeneration.