Development of a PHMB hydrogel‐modified wound scaffold dressing with antibacterial activity

Abstract

Current wound scaffold dressing constructs can facilitate wound healing but do not exhibit antibacterial activity, resulting in high infection rates. We aimed to endow wound scaffold dressing with anti‐infective ability by polyhexamethylenebiguanide (PHMB). We prepared PHMB hydrogel at varying concentrations (0.25%, 0.5%, 1%, 2%) and assessed release and cytotoxicity. PHMB hydrogel was added to the wound scaffold dressing to generate a PHMB hydrogel‐modified wound scaffold dressing. Wound healing and infection prevention were evaluated using a full‐thickness skin defect model in rats. In vitro, the hydrogel PHMB release time positively correlated with PHMB concentration, with 1% allowing sufficiently long release time to encompass the high‐incidence period (3‐5 days) of infection following wound scaffold dressing implantation. Implantation of 1% PHMB hydrogel into the skin did not cause adverse responses. in vitro cytotoxicity assays showed the PHMB hydrogel‐modified wound scaffold dressing did not significantly affect proliferation of fibroblasts or vascular endothelial cells, 99.90% vs 99.84% for fibroblasts and 100.21% vs 99.28% for vascular endothelial cells at 21 days. Transplantation of PHMB hydrogel‐modified wound scaffold dressing/unmodified wound scaffold dressing on the non‐infected wounds of rats yielded no significant difference in relative vascularization rate, 47.40 vs 50.87 per view at 21 days, whereas bacterial content of the wound tissue in the PHMB hydrogel‐modified wound scaffold dressing group was significantly lower than the unmodified wound scaffold dressing group, (1.80 ± 0.35) × 103 vs (9.34 ± 0.45) × 103 at 14 days. Prevalence of persistent wound infection in the rats receiving PHMB hydrogel‐modified wound scaffold dressing transplantation onto infected wounds was significantly lower than the unmodified wound scaffold dressing group, 30% vs 100%. PHMB hydrogel‐modified wound scaffold dressing exhibited suitable antibacterial ability, and its biological activity did not significantly differ from that of the unmodified wound scaffold dressing, thereby allowing it to effectively prevent infection following wound scaffold dressing implantation.

Hydrogels in Burn Wound Management—A Review

“…A hydrogel scaffold with incorporated PHMB reduced the incidence of wound infection [ 105 ]. An amorphic hydrogel with PHMB can also be applied to stimulate ‘wet’ healing after enzymatic debridement with bromelain [ 106 ]. The hydrogel is applied in the third step of the procedure, after a wet-to-dry dressing post the procedure.…”

Novel Polyhexanide-Releasing Membranes for Antimicrobial Wound Dressings: A Critical Review

“…healing model, in addition to wound size or area, other parameters that were taken as indicators of wound healing were the area of the wound covered by collagen [96], the occurrence of neovascularization and the intensity of the inflammatory response [105] (Table 12). For treatment for 14 days with the already mentioned PRM6 membrane, collagen formation was higher when compared to treatment with Bactigras ® and the PRM15 membrane no effect on the neovascularization capacity and on the levels of inflammatory factors when compared to the unloaded membrane.…”

“Self-Defensive” Antifouling Zwitterionic Hydrogel Coatings on Polymeric Substrates

“…Biological contamination refers to the phenomenon of adhesion, aggregation, and deposition of microorganisms on the surfaces of materials, such as proteins, bacteria, and undesirable cells, , which can easily colonize on the surfaces. In the fields of biomedicine, biological contamination can be easily found on devices such as sensors, , interventional catheters, or bone materials, , leading to inflammatory reactions, , rejection reactions, and bacterial infections . Among them, bacterial infections are a critical factor leading to the failure of clinical application of biological materials, , which are called healthcare-related infections (HAIs).…”

“…In the fields of biomedicine, biological contamination can be easily found on devices such as sensors, 3,4 interventional catheters, 5 or bone materials, 6,7 leading to inflammatory reactions, 8,9 rejection reactions, 10 and bacterial infections. 11 Among them, bacterial infections are a critical factor leading to the failure of clinical application of biological materials, 12,13 which are called healthcare-related infections (HAIs). Taking implantation or long-term interventional catheters as an example, pathogens are extremely easy to invade and spread, causing infections.…”