Periodontitis represents a major public health problem, and is characterized by dysbiosis of the oral biofilm. Probiotics isolated from the oral cavity represent one of the promising advanced methods to restore the balance. Probiotics must be delivered locally to the affected area to enable their colonization. Nanofibers represent a promising delivery system for this purpose. The aim of this master's thesis was to optimize the formulation and process parameters of the production of nanofibers with incorporated potentially probiotic strain 27.3.S of the genus Stenotrophomonas sp. by keeping its viability as high as possible during the electrospinning process.
We found that irradiation of a 4% (m/V) polyethylene oxide (PEO) solution for 6 hours with UV light of a wavelength of 254 nm can reduce the possibility of contamination of polymer solutions with contaminating strains of microorganisms. The successful development of PEO nanofibers with incorporated bacterial strain 27.3.S was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. The viability of bacteria in the nanofibers decreased by 2.9 log CFU/mg during their preparation. The polymer dispersion osmolarity and temperature during electrospinning did not affect bacterial survival, but we demonstrated a negative effect of exposing the polymer dispersion to high voltage (decrease in viability by 1.3 log CFU/mL) and drying (decrease in viability by 2.1 log CFU/mL) on bacterial survival after electrospinning. In addition, we found that bacteria whose growth was interrupted in the late logarithmic phase compared to the stationary phase survived electrospinning better.
PEO nanofibers with an addition of 55.6% of selected stabilizers (sucrose, mannitol, glycerol, and sorbitol) were developed to reduce the negative effects of dehydration during electrospinning on bacteria’s viability. The addition of sorbitol and sucrose resulted in a statistically significant improvement in the survival of bacteria in nanofibers. Moreover, survival of the studied strain in dried polymer films and lyophilizates was compared to survival in nanofibers immediately after their preparation. After both drying processes, bacterial survival was better compared to electrospinning.
The results of the master's thesis represent a systematic study of the effects of various parameters on the survival of bacterial strain 27.3.S during their incorporation into PEO nanofibers by electrospinning, which is crucial for the design of advanced delivery systems with sensitive biological components such as probiotics.
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