Construction of a composite sponge containing tilapia peptides and chitosan with improved hemostatic performance

Abstract Despite superior hemostasis and repair function, tilapia peptide's application as wounding dressing is greatly limited due to its poor biostability. To expand its application in wounding dressing area, chitosan (CS), with antibacterial activity, biocompatibility and biodegradability, was used to encapsulate tilapia peptides using ionic crosslink method. The results show 10.6w% (loading capacity) of the tilapia peptides are homogenously dispersed in surface or interior of the as-fabricated chitosan/tilapia peptides microspheres (CS/TPM), which leads to greatly improved biostability. In addition, a new composite sponge using CS/TPM as fillers and CS as matrix was then constructed (S-CS/TPM) and used for hemorrhage control. The results indicate that S-CS/TPM can absorb large volume of water, accelerate blood clotting, increase platelet adhesion and promote conversion of fibrinogen to fibrin. Compared with the CS andCS/TPM, the hemostatic efficiency of S-CS/TPM in New Zealand rabbit ear and femoral artery models is much higher. Particularly, the bleeding time was shortened greatly, and the bleeding volume was reduced significantly. In conclusions, our results suggested that S-CS/TPM is a promising hemostatic adjuvant.