Desenvolvimento e caracterização de membranas de borracha natural associadas à extrato aquoso de própolis de bijuí para tratamento de queimaduras

Abstract

Burn injuries result in a large financial expense for the treatment and are responsible for the psychological, physical and social sequelae of the injured person. Currently we can find various types of treatment on the market, such as topical agents and temporary skin substitutes. One of the ways to take care of these injuries is through the use of dressings. Among the diverse therapeutic options, the vegetal membrane derived from the natural rubber of the rubber tree Hevea brasiliensis has stood out as a type of important dressing alone or even serve as a matrix to aid the action of other active compounds, such as propolis, adding new biological or Improving existing ones. In this sense, the present study aims to prepare and characterize a system formed by natural rubber and aqueous extract of propolis for a possible application in the treatment of injuries caused by burns. The membranes were prepared by magnetic stirring of different proportions of the aqueous propolis extract (1%, 2.5% or 4%) together with natural rubber and polymerized at temperatures of 27 and 60 ° C. After the formation of the membranes, they were characterized by wettability tests, mechanical properties, optical microscopy and absorption spectroscopy in the infrared region. Through the similarity of the spectra obtained in the infrared analysis, we can verify the interaction between the components used in the development of the membranes, demonstrating the obtaining of a new material. Through the mechanical assay it was possible to verify that the membranes have high deformation capacity, evidenced by the low modulus of elasticity. In the wettability test the increase of the wettability of the membranes was observed with the addition of aqueous extract of propolis in its constitution, and this increase was proportional to the increase of the concentration of the incorporated extract. As for the morphology of the membranes, the presence of the aqueous propolis extract made the surface of the membranes more porous. Therefore, it is possible to affirm that the junction of these two substances allowed the development of membranes with better hydrophilic and deformation characteristics, providing good conditions for a possible application as curative.