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Lysozyme-Responsive Spray-Dried Chitosan Particles for Early Detection of Wound Infection
journal contribution
posted on 2019-02-19, 00:00 authored by Claudia Tallian, Gregor Tegl, Lisa Quadlbauer, Robert Vielnascher, Simone Weinberger, Raymon Cremers, Alessandro Pellis, Johannes W.O. Salari, Georg M. GuebitzInfections are a
severe health issue, and the need for an early
point-of-care diagnostic approach for wound infections is continuously
growing. Lysozyme has shown a great potential as a biomarker for rapid
detection of wound infection. In this study, spray-drying of labeled
and derivatized chitosans was investigated for the production of small
particles responsive to lysozyme. Therefore, various chitosans, differing
in their origin (snow crab, Chionoecetes sp., with
medium and low molecular weight or shrimp) were N-acetylated, labeled with reactive black 5, and tested for solubility
and spray-drying suitability. Reactive black-5-stained N-acetylated chitosan (low molecular weight, origin crab) was successfully
spray-dried, and the obtained particles were characterized regarding
size, ζ potential, and morphology. The particles showed an average
hydrodynamic radius of 612.5 ± 132.8 nm. ζ potential was
measured in the context of a later application as an infection detection
system for wound infections in artificial wound fluid (−6.14
± 0.16 mV) and infected wound fluid (−7.93 ± 1.35
mV). Furthermore, the aggregation behavior and surface structure were
analyzed by using scanning electron microscopy and confocal laser
scanning microscopy revealing spherical-shaped particles with explicit
surface topologies. Spray-dried N-acetylated chitosan
particles showed a 5-fold increase in lysozyme-responsive release
of dyed chitosan fragments due to the enhanced surface area to volume
ratio when compared to non-spray-dried N-acetylated
chitosan flakes. On the basis of these results, the study showed the
improved properties of N-acetylated spray-dried chitosan
particles for future applications for early and rapid infection detection.