Wound dressing of chitosan-based-crosslinked gelatin/ polyvinyl pyrrolidone embedded silver nanoparticles, for targeting multidrug resistance microbes.

Wound dressing composed of chitosan, based crosslinked gelatin/ polyvinyl pyrrolidone, embedded silver nanoparticles were fabricated using solution casting method. The membrane was characterized by FTIR, SEM and TGA. Glutaraldehyde (0.5 %) was used for the crosslinking of membrane components and associated with 7-folds boosted mechanical performance, 28 % more hydrolytic stability, 3-folds thickness reduction and morphological roughness. Silver nanoparticles were characterized by UV-vis, XRD and TEM for an average size of 9.9 nm. The membrane with higher concentration of silver nanoparticles showed maximum antibacterial activity against human pathogenic bacteria; and the measured inhibition zones ranged from 1.5 to 3 cm. The activity of the particles ranged from severe to complete reduction in Penicillin, Erythromycin and Macrolide family's resistance genes expression such as β-Lactamase, mecA and erm. This developed membrane can serve as promising and cost-effective system against severe diabetic and burn wound infections.