Evaluation of drug release property and blood compatibility of aspirin-loaded electrospun PLA/RSF composite nanofibers

In this paper, PLA/RSF with different mass ratios and aspirin-loaded PLA/RSF composite nanofiber membranes were prepared via electrospinning. Polylactic acid (PLA) and regenerated silk fibroin (RSF) were dissolved in trifluoroacetic acid and dichloromethane at a volume ratio of 70/30. The structure analysis made by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) suggested that PLA and RSF blended very well in the composite membranes. In addition, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that the average diameters of composite nanofibers were between 80 and 210 nm. Furthermore, the composite nanofibers had better uniformity in the range of the experiment, and the average diameter of composite nanofibers decreased with the increase of aspirin content. Wettability performance was investigated via contact water angle meter; the hydrophilic property of composite membranes had been improved with the existence of SF. Drug release property was tested by detecting the absorbency of drug in PBS solution via UV-visible spectroscopy, and the results showed that drug release rate reached the maximum when the mass ratio of PLA/RSF was 8/3. With the raise of aspirin content, the drug release rate increased. The in vitro anticoagulation behavior was studied by static platelet adhesion test. The results revealed that the anticoagulation property of composite membranes was superior to that of pure PLA nanofiber membranes. The anticoagulation property significantly improved in the presence of aspirin.