Fast-dissolving electrospun gelatin nanofibers encapsulating ciprofloxacin/cyclodextrin inclusion complex

Abstract

Electrospun gelatin nanofibrous matrix encapsulating ciprofloxacin (CIP)/hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HP?CD)-inclusion complex (IC) was produced via electrospinning method. Computational modeling indicated that van der Waals forces are the most significant driving forces for the complexation and hydrophobic moiety (piperazinyl) of CIP, which was included in the cavity of HP?CD. The FTIR and XRD studies indicated the formation of CIP/HP?CD host/guest complexation, FTIR also suggested that hydrophobic moiety of CIP is in the HP?CD cavity in parallel with the computational modeling results. The phase solubility diagram demonstrated that the solubility of CIP was enhanced after complexation with HP?CD. SEM images showed that electrospun gelatin nanofibers encapsulating CIP/HP?CD-IC have bead-free morphology with a diameter of ˜90 nm. The gelatin nanofibrous mat loaded with CIP/HP?CD-IC has exhibited fast-dissolving character in water compared to gelatin/CIP nanofibrous mat due to the enhanced wettability of the nanofibrous mat by HP?CD and improvement achieved in the solubility of CIP. © 2019 Elsevier B.V.