Fabrication and Characterization of Gallic Acid-Loaded Poly (lactic acid) Electrospun Fibers for Tissue Engineering Applications

The main property of a bioactive scaffold is not only to provide an extracellular matrix but also to accelerate tissue regeneration. Thus, the addition of bioactive compounds to the scaffolds becomes a key method to increase the potential of tissue-engineered scaffolds. In this work, poly(lactic acid)(PLA) nanofibrous scaffolds incorporated with various concentrations of gallic acid (GA) (0, 2.5, 5, and 10 mg/ml) were prepared by electrospinning. The scaffold properties were assessed through SEM imaging, GA releasing assay, and degradation assay. SEM imaging revealed that the set-up electrospinning condition can be used to fabricate gallic acid-loaded nanofibers and the incorporation of GA did not have a discernible impact on the average fiber diameter and morphology. In addition, the release of GA increased with respect to GA content of the fibers. The degradation assays indicated that the weight of the scaffolds reduced over time but more than 80% of the fiber mass  remained after 28 days in all formulations. In summary, the preliminary results of this research suggest that PLA electrospun fibers incorporated with GA hold general properties of bioactive scaffolds which can be further studied as a tissue-engineered construct.