Maria Letizia Iabichella
Helios Med Onlus, International Health Cooperation
Italy
Title: Polymeric electrospun scaffold functionalized with Hyperoil. A new frontier in tissue repair without hospitalization?
Biography
Biography: Maria Letizia Iabichella
Abstract
The efficacy of the treatment with Hyperoil (mixture of Hypericum perforatum flowers extract and Azadirachta indica oil) in advanced ulcerated diabetic, vascular and neuropatic feet was described in a previous reports. Several surprisingly successful outcomes for infection damaged diabetic foot, without prior use of surgical procedure, demonstrated the great potential of the Hyperoil. In fact, the effective use of treatment with Hyperoil in patients with foot diabetic lesions was proved in a case series study.
Current research lines in regenerative medicine focus on the creation of scaffolds with specific functionalities and structurally similar to the fibrous component of the Extra-Cellular Matrix, thus providing a biomimetic environment for cellular growth. The use of electrospun scaffolds made by Poli(L-lactic acid, PLLA) functionalized with Hyperoil, having anti-infective properties, was recently demonstrated by using S. aureus, P. aeruginosa and K. ozaenae AM strains.
In our preliminary observations, the scaffold functionalized with Hyperoil was applied directly in cleaned skin ulcers after debridment, showing also anti-inflammatory and tissue regeneration properties without perilesional damage. In particular, the biomimetic structure of the PLLA mat remarkably improves the tissue repair efficacy of Hyperoil used as regenerative skin graft easing wound healing time, avoiding surgical procedures in operating room and high costs for hospedalization.
The outcome of the cooperation between regenerative medicine and tissue engineering fields lead to the development of scaffolds functionalized with Hyperoil which might be used use in extensive skin tissue loss like Buruli ulcer and burns due to their bacteriostatic, anti-flammatory and regenerative properties.
