A Multifunctional Pro‐Healing Zwitterionic Hydrogel for Simultaneous Optical Monitoring of pH and Glucose in Diabetic Wound Treatment

Abstract

Diabetic ulcer is the most common kind of chronic wound worldwide. Though great efforts have been devoted, diabetic ulcer still remains as a challenge that requires constant monitoring and management. In this work, a multifunctional zwitterionic hydrogel is developed to simultaneously detect two fluctuant wound parameters, pH and glucose level, to monitor the diabetic wound status. A pH indicator dye (phenol red) and two glucose sensing enzymes, glucose oxidase (GOx) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP), are encapsulated in the anti-biofouling and biocompatible zwitterionic poly-carboxybetaine (PCB) hydrogel matrix. The visible images are collected by a smartphone and transformed into RGB signals to quantify the wound parameters. Results show that the activity and stability of both two enzymes are improved within PCB hydrogel, and the K cat /K m value of PCB-HRP is ≈5.5 fold of free HRP in artificial wound exudate. This novel wound dressing can successfully monitor the pH range of 4-8 and glucose level of 0.1-10 × 10 −3 m. Meanwhile, it also provides a moist healing environment that can promote diabetic wound healing. This multifunctional wound dressing may open vistas in chronic wound management and guide the diabetes treatment in clinical applications.

Selection of Appropriate Wound Dressing for Various Wounds

“…Recently, a study prepared a multifunctional hydrogel for diabetic wounds. This hydrogel can be used on wounds to collect wound photos via mobile phone and transformed into RGB signals to monitor the pH and glucose levels of diabetic wounds in real time (Zhu et al, 2019). Hydrocolloid and hydrofiber dressings are composed of the same materials in nature.…”

Responsive principles and applications of smart materials in biosensing

“…Benefiting from H 2 O 2 generated in glucose reaction (equation (1) ), Zhang and coworkers developed an intelligent zwitterionic hydrogel that can simultaneously monitor pH and glucose levels in diabetic wounds [ 33 ]. They encapsulated GOx and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) into zwitterionic poly-carboxybetaine (PCB) hydrogel to achieve high sensitivity to glucose ( Fig.…”

Bioactive Self‐Pumping Composite Wound Dressings with Micropore Array Modified Janus Membrane for Enhanced Diabetic Wound Healing

“…The wound repair of chronic skin ulcer, such as diabetic ulcer, is a major problem in regenerative medicine. [1] Diabetic ulcer wounds are often accompanied by tissue edema with large amount of exudates, [2] which may stop or significantly delay the healing process. [3] The formation of diabetic ulcer is the result adsorb urines and effectively reduce the skin surface humidity and reduce the occurrence of dermatitis.…”