A process-free setup for the preparation of probiotic-loaded electrospun mat as a tailored dressing

Infected burn wounds remain difficult to treat because biofilm formation and increasing antibiotic resistance can limit the effectiveness of conventional antimicrobial therapy. Probiotic treatment offers a potential alternative, but many probiotic dressings require fabrication, encapsulation, or drying procedures that substantially reduce cell viability. This study developed an on-demand, post-fabrication method for loading probiotics onto electrospun mats and assessed its therapeutic performance in a rat model of infected burn wounds, with mupirocin used as the reference treatment. Electrospinning produced poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) mats, which were characterized for fiber morphology, water vapor transmission rate, mechanical properties, and chemical integrity. Lactiplantibacillus plantarum was loaded onto the prefabricated mats by either soaking or spraying, without prior encapsulation or immobilization. Viable cell loading, release, and short-term survival after loading were then quantified. Spraying cells suspended in MRS broth, followed by drying at room temperature, produced the highest viable counts on both mat types. Agar diffusion and co-culture assays confirmed that the loaded mats retained antimicrobial activity and released active bacterial metabolites. PLA was selected for the in vivo study because it provided suitable mechanical properties, slower cell detachment, and a lower material cost. Compared with blank controls, the L. plantarum-loaded PLA mats accelerated wound closure and improved collagen organization and re-epithelialization, with outcomes comparable to those achieved with mupirocin. By separating mat fabrication from probiotic loading, this scalable method may simplify manufacturing and storage while supporting point-of-care preparation of probiotic wound dressings.