# Poly(lactic acid)-Based Electrospun Fibrous Structures for Biomedical Applications
## 8 Biomedical Applications of PLA-Based Nanofibrous Structures
### Wound Healing
Physical adsorption and blend electrospinning techniques have been used to load anti-inflammatory agents, Betamethasone (BEX), and Dexamethasone acetate (DEX) into PLA fibers and their release efficiency has been compared (Figure 11a-c). Blend electrospinning resulted in a better-sustained release profile with a burst release during the first five hours, while physical adsorption of the drug on the PLA electrospun membranes resulted in a significant burst release. [PERSON] et al. [74] incorporated curcumin as an anti-inflammatory and an antioxidant agent inside electrospun PLLA fibers for wound dressing application (Figure 11d,e). The fabricated membrane protected cell attachment and proliferation and was non-toxic to human adult dermal fibroblast (HDF) cells. Since curcumin is hydrophobic, in another attempt, different contents and molecular weights of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) were used to modify the hydrophilicity of curcumin-loaded electrospun PLA fiber for wound dressing applications (Figure 11f) [70]. Results showed that the increase in concentration and a decrease in the molecular weight of PEG led to an increase in the weight loss values. The curcumin-loaded PLA/PEG electrospun membrane improved the conditions for cell growth and speeded up the drug release through balancing the hydrophilicity-hydrophobicity of the medium. [PERSON] et al. used the blend electrospinning of PLA/Poly(1,8-octanediol-co-citric acid) (POC) in order to improve the elasticity and hydrophilicity of the Aspirin-loaded PLA nanofibrous as wound dressings. The presence of POC significantly improved the elasticity, hydrophilicity, biodegradability, and namely tensile deformation of the nanofibrous membrane which are important characteristics in wound dressing applications [88]. [PERSON] et al. [78] used doxycycline (DCH), a broad-spectrum antibiotic, as a model drug, inside PLA nanofibers (Figure 11g,h). The resulted fibers revealed favorable cytocompatibility to L92 mouse fibroblasts and showed reasonable antibacterial activity, which can be considered as a promising wound dressing for chronic wound healing. To avoid the disadvantages of wound dressings loaded with conventional antibiotics, [PERSON] et al. [79] developed an antibiotic-free wound dressing based on silver (I) metal-organic frameworks-PLA nanofibers with the effective antibacterial capability to promote tissue regeneration (Figure 11i). In vivo results showed that the electrospun fibrous composite could significantly speed up the healing rate of infected wounds. [PERSON] et al. [77] used Aspalathus linearis (AL) fermented extract and silver sulphadiazine (Ag + S) in PLA and collagen-PLA electrospun fibrous scaffolds to improve the antibacterial activity for wound healing applications. Antibacterial properties and cellular biocompatibility were improved. The obtained composite fibers were non-toxic to the cells and presented favorable substrates for cell attachment and proliferation. [PERSON] et al. [80] used a wet electrospinning technique including a liquid coagulation bath collector to produce 3D porous PLA nanofibrous scaffolds for wound healing application. Wet electrospun nanofibers had higher porosity and surface area in comparison to the dry electrospinning technique. Rat bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs) were seeded on the fibers. In vitro and in vivo results demonstrated the potential of the 3D electrospun fibrous PLA as a suitable wound dressing. In another study, a novel wound dressing was designed based on PLA/PVA/SA (sodium alginate) electrospun fibers. The mouse fibroblasts (L929 cell line) were grown on both PLA and PLA/PVA/SA fibers with better adhesion and proliferation on PLA/PVA/SA than on the PLA membranes. The in vivo assay also confirmed the significant efficacy of PLA/PVA/SA electrospun membranes for wound healing compared to commercially available gauzes [7]. [PERSON] et al.