Manuka honey and bioactive glass impart methylcellulose foams with antibacterial effects for wound-healing applications

Abstract

Wound dressings able to deliver topically bioactive molecules represent a new generation of wound-regeneration therapies. In this article, foams based on methylcellulose cross-linked with Manuka honey were used as a platform to deliver borate bioactive glass particles doped additionally with copper. Borate bioactive glasses are of great interest in wound-healing applications due to a combination of favorable features, such as angiogenic and antibacterial properties. The multifunctional composite providing the dual effect of the bioactive glass and Manuka honey was produced by freeze-drying, and the resulting foams exhibit suitable morphology characterized by high porosity. Moreover, the performed tests showed improved wettability and mechanical performance with the addition of bioactive glass particles. Dissolution studies using simulated body fluid and cell biology tests using relevant skin cells further proved the excellent bioactivity and positive effects of the foams on cell proliferation and migration. Most interestingly, by the dual release of Manuka honey and ions from the copper-doped bioactive glass, an antibacterial effect against E. coli and S. aureus was achieved. Therefore, the multifunctional foams showed promising outcomes as potential wound dressings for the treatment of infected wounds.

The effect of borate bioactive glass on the printability of methylcellulose-manuka honey hydrogels

“…However, the presence of BG inside the BG-containing samples cannot be clearly detected by FTIR. This effect was already reported previously, when BG of the same composition was used in the fields of electrospinning and freeze drying [9,10]. A reason for this behavior could be the immersion of the BG particles in the hydrogel matrix and the resulting surface coverage, which leads to no clearly detectable BG peaks inside the composite system.…”

“…Among other advantages, MC is a highly biocompatible material, which is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for several applications, e.g., for use in pharmaceuticals [8]. As we showed in previous studies [9,10], MC can be chemically crosslinked with manuka honey (H), by the action of methylglyoxal groups present in the honey, which has been proven to cross-link cellulose [11]. Among its other favorable biological effects in wound healing (e.g., antibacterial effect, stimulation of wound epithelialization and anti-inflammatory efficiency), H is an interesting natural cross-linker, which makes unnecessary the addition of other standard and potentially cytotoxic cross-linkers, such as glutaraldehyde, which could have negative effects on the biological system [12][13][14][15].…”

“…Based on previous results focusing on the use of MC-H solutions for electrospinning and freeze drying [9,10], the increase of the stability of MC scaffolds was investigated by considering the addition of H, achieving a (mild) cross-linking effect. Indeed, the stability of the hydrogel was shown to be improved by adding H to MC in a ratio of 1:2.…”

“…After 15 [26]) were added to achieve a 10, 20 or 40 wt% composition with respect to the polymer content. The borate BG was fabricated by melt-quenching and milled to a mean particle size of 5-20 µm, as described previously [9,26]. After another 30 min of stirring at 50 °C, the inks were stored in a fridge overnight in order to allow complete hydration [7].…”

Role of Honey in Advanced Wound Care

“…Therefore, recent research focuses on the development of different materials or matrices to convey honey, control its delivery, and act as absorbent secondary dressings [ 7 , 39 , 93 , 94 , 95 ].…”