Endogenous Antioxidant Cocktail Loaded Hydrogel for Topical Wound Healing of Burns

Abstract

The main goal of this work is the study of the skin wound healing efficacy of an antioxidant cocktail consisting of vitamins A, D, E and the endogenous pineal hormone melatonin (MLT), with all of these loaded into a thermosensitive hydrogel delivery system. The resulting formulation was characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The antioxidant efficacy and microbiological activity against Gram positive and Gram negative strains were also assayed. The skin healing efficacy was tested using an in vivo model which included histological evaluation. Furthermore, atomic force microscopy was employed to evaluate the wound healing efficacy of rat skin burns through the determination of its elasticity at the nanoscale using force spectroscopy analysis. The resulting hydrogel exhibited sol state at low temperature and turned into a gel at 30 ± 0.2 °C. The hydrogel containing the antioxidant cocktail showed higher scavenging activity than the hydrogel containing vitamins or MLT, separately. The formulation showed optimal antimicrobial activity. It was comparable to a commercial reference. It was also evidenced that the hydrogel containing the antioxidant cocktail exhibited the strongest healing process in the skin burns of rats, similar to the assayed commercial reference containing silver sulfadiazine. Histological studies confirmed the observed results. Finally, atomic force microscopy demonstrated a similar distribution of Young’s modulus values between burned skin treated with the commercial reference and burned skin treated with hydrogel containing the antioxidant cocktail, and all these with healthy skin. The use of an antioxidant cocktail of vitamins and MLT might be a promising treatment for skin wounds for future clinical studies.

Marine fungi showing multifunctional activity against human pathogenic microbes and cancer

“…Biomedicine is looking for multifunctional drugs because antioxidants seem to improve the efficiency of the treatments of bacterial infections and cancer [32][33][34][35][36]. In our survey, one hundred marine fungal strains included more than 30 potential strains for biomedical applications showing antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant, and cytotoxic activities to different extents.…”

Advancing burn wound treatment: exploring hydrogel as a transdermal drug delivery system

“…Therefore, the development of anti-inflammatory hydrogels is also crucial. Hydrogels loaded with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents, including vitamins (Soriano-Ruiz et al., 2020 ; Soriano et al., 2021 ), curcumin (Dang et al., 2019 ; Babaluei et al., 2023 ), polyphenolic compounds (Wang et al., 2019 ; Shao et al., 2022 ), and natural peptides (Liu et al., 2022 ), have shown promise in enhancing burn wound healing. For instance, tannic acid, a polyphenolic compound derived from plants known for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, was incorporated into a novel adhesive, hemostatic and biocompatible hydrogel composed of thioctic acid and phytic acid (TAPA).…”

Melatonin in Dermatologic Allergic Diseases and Other Skin Conditions: Current Trends and Reports

“…There are several ways to administer melatonin, including tablets, oral solutions, sprays for the nose or oral mucosa, and in the form of skin patches, topical creams, or hydrogels [ 21 , 22 ]. The most common side effects of systemic melatonin use are mild and include headache, nausea, dizziness, and drowsiness [ 21 ].…”