PCL nanofibers loaded with beta-carotene: a novel treatment for eczema

Carotenoids, especially beta-carotene, are the precursors to vitamin A, and together with manganese, have anti-inflammatory and healing effects. These properties prompted their use in the present study for the treatment of eczema. For this purpose, poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) nanofibers were produced under different conditions using the electrospinning technique and the best ones were selected for loading different concentrations of beta-carotene. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) confirmed the presence of beta-carotene in nanofibrous mats. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was employed to determine the surface morphology, average diameter, and pore size of the nanofibers. The average diameters of pure PCL nanofibers and PCL/beta-carotene one with different concentrations of beta-carotene were obtained to be 480 ± 86 and 478–393 nm, respectively. In addition, the tensile properties, degradability, and drug release of different of mat samples were investigated. Moreover, only slight changes were observed in the weight loss of the nanofiber mats after 168 h (about 2.5 days) while the drug release trend was also very slow. Hence, the drug-loaded nanofibers produced in this experiment may be claimed to have the desirable properties for application in treating certain skin diseases such as eczema that need long-term treatments.